


Then I Met You

by whosyourhero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Matt Holt, Boys In Love, College Student Allura (Voltron), College Student Keith (Voltron), College Student Matt (Voltron), College Student Shiro (Voltron), Dorks in Love, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Human Allura (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Katt - Freeform, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith is a Tease (Voltron), Korean Keith (Voltron), Love at First Sight, M/M, Matt Holt & Shiro Friendship, Matt Holt is a Good Sibling, Not Beta Read, Orphan Keith (Voltron), POV Matt Holt, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), Past Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Pining Shiro (Voltron), Romantic Comedy, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Slice of Life, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25174726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whosyourhero/pseuds/whosyourhero
Summary: Matt Holt is many things; a genius, a brother, a son, and the best friend anyone could ever have. What he didn't count on was being a lovestruck fool too.Enter Keith Kogane.The ridiculously gorgeous freshman that leaves Matt breathless and determined to win his love.I suck at summaries.
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt/Keith
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	1. My Life Was Empty and Then I Met You.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something I started writing for fun. I recently read some Katt fics and realized that I really like this ship. Klance is still my OTP but Katt is just too cute to ignore! It'll be mostly fluffy with only a tiny dose of angst.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“HEY! WATCH IT MAN!” Someone shouted as a young man barreled through a group of people standing in front of a vending machine.

“SORRY!” He shouted, turning to look back over his shoulder at the irritable group. “I can’t believe I’m so late! Dammit!” he swore at himself as he ran through the college campus, expertly dodging students now. It wasn’t his fault though, oh no, it was his evil mastermind of a younger sister’s fault.

His sister turned off his alarm while he was asleep and had cackled at him this morning as he flung himself out of bed a full thirty minutes after his alarm should’ve gone off. She counted down how many minutes late he’d be for his first day of classes as he attempted to brush his teeth and pull on his pants simultaneously. He groaned at the memory as he raced through the school’s courtyard full of students. 

* * *

“You little gremlin!” he shouted, nearly choking on the toothpaste foam in his mouth. “I’m gonna kill you!”

“Matthew! Don’t talk to your sister like that!” He heard his mother yell from the kitchen.

Matt spit into the sink as his sister howled with laughter. “I’ll get you for this,” he hissed softly at her before running a brush through his shaggy light brown hair. He shoved shoes onto his feet and sprinted downstairs and into the kitchen. 

“Mom, Katie turned off my alarm and now I’m running late for class! It’s the first day! She’s evil!” He grabbed a piece of bread and slathered some peanut butter on it as his sister was summoned to the kitchen by their irate mother. He grinned smugly at Katie as she walked into the kitchen glaring at him. “See ya later sis,” he chuckled before kissing his mother’s cheek and running out, bread slice in hand, just as his mother began scolding his younger sister.

* * *

“C’mon man, focus,” he mumbled to himself, shaking his head as he ran. Matt pumped his legs harder in an effort to pick up the pace.

He finally found his class and slowed down to a stop in front of the door, desperately trying to catch his breath. He didn’t want to make a scene by bursting in, out of breath and wild eyed after all. Luck was on his side today because this was a large class, held in an auditorium so he decided to quietly sneak in and take a seat in the back. Not only was it the least disruptive plan but he’d also be near the door and could leave as soon as class was over.

Matt opened the door gently, intent on finding a seat quickly so he wasn’t noticed when his eyes landed on the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

Said young man was sitting in the last row of seats and dutifully taking notes as he pushed a strand of his long black hair behind his ear. He was slim but it was easy to see that he went to the gym. The sleeves of his black v-neck shirt were tight around his biceps and chest and hung loosely from the rest of his torso which, the brunette was praying, held the promise of a toned stomach. Matt had to consciously stop himself from salivating at the sight of his classmate.

Now Matthew Holt was not one to be shy, especially not when he saw someone as stunning as this man. Needless to say he had to talk to him or he might actually die, so that’s how he found himself approaching the beautiful stranger in the back of the class, completely ignoring his plan of finding a seat quickly before anyone noticed him.

“Hey,” Matt whispered. “Is it okay if I sit here?”

He looked a bit annoyed at Matt’s interruption but nodded curtly. Matt thanked him and took out his laptop to type up his notes. He subtly checked out the other man from the corner of his eye. It was truly unbelievable just how captivating he was. He had dark, almond shaped eyes, a delicately sloped nose, and thick dark lashes and eyebrows. Matt typed slowly as he looked at his beautiful classmate, he needed to say something but what?

The young man turned suddenly, his pretty features set in a hard glare. “What are you staring at?”

Busted.

His subtlety turned out to be not so subtle. “Umm, w-well I heard that this professor was kind of tough and I...I was hoping that you’d maybe want to be study buddies?” Matt stumbled out the first excuse he could think of.

“No,” was the only answer he received.

“Please? This is my second time taking this class, I failed miserably the first time.” A lie but Matt hoped it was believable.

“How do you fail an ethics class? It’s a pretty easy subject.”

“I’m an idiot okay?” Another lie. “I’m great at math but this stuff messes with my head.” A little truth and another lie. He had a feeling that he was going to regret this later.

The other man sighed. “The name’s Keith, and I guess I can help you out with this class if you’re that desperate.”

Success! Matt grinned widely. “Oh trust me, I am desperate. I’m Matt, nice to meet you Keith.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Here, type your number in so we can plan when to study and stuff.”

His heart was racing as Keith took his phone and quickly typed in his name and cell number. “I hope you’re not some kind of creep,” he whispered as he handed it back.

“Nah man, I’m like the coolest of the cool.” He winked at Keith who, to his delight, turned a bit pink before refocusing on the professor. Matt used this moment to text his best friend.

  
  


Matt:

HEEEEELP

EMERGENCY

SOS

Shiro:

I swear to any and every GOD Matt

If this is another text about being out of Eggos

I will kill you.

Matt:

THIS IS SERIOUS

Although I am out of those too, btdubs

THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER

Shiro:

Can you stop with the all caps?

What is it?

Matt:

I have just encountered the most GORGEOUS

STUNNING

BEAUTIFUL MAN

THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN!

Shiro:

So?

Talk to him?

Matt:

I DID!

I also sort of tricked him into thinking I’m stupid

So that he’d be my study buddy.

Shiro:

…

Dude

What is wrong with you?

That’s no way to start any kind of relationship.

Matt:

I knooooow

I’m such an idiot.

Where are you? Can we meet up after my class?

Shiro:

I’m at the library café.

Waiting for my little brother to get out of class.

Matt:

He won’t mind if I’m gushing about some guy right?

Shiro:

Nah, he’s cool. He’s really quiet but he won’t mind.

Might think you’re crazy though.

When are you out?

Matt:

35 minutes.

Shiro:

I’ll be here, see ya.

Matt:

See ya.

  
  


Matt sighed and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He decided to focus on the lecture while surreptitiously checking Keith out again. When the professor signaled the end of class he started packing his bag so fast he almost missed it when Keith spoke to him.

“Hey, so do you want to get together soon to go over the first couple of chapters?”

Matt turned to face Keith and was nearly blown over by how beautiful he was. Now that he was standing and facing him completely, Matt could appreciate the lithe, toned figure, the long dark hair that curled around the base of his neck, and his dark eyes that Matt swore he could get lost in. Keith was also shorter than him which was a huge bonus and he could already picture being Keith’s little spoon.

“Yeah that sounds good, um I’ll text you if that’s cool? I’m kind of in a hurry. Gotta meet a friend.”

Keith’s cheeks turned pink and he took a step back. “R-right, yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to hold you up.”

Matt smiled at him. “Dude, relax. No need to apologize, you didn’t do anything. I’ll text you later and we can figure out a day, place, and time. Is that okay?”

Keith nodded and turned to grab his books. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.”

“You bet. See ya soon!” Matt nearly sprinted out of class after saying goodbye. 

Shiro looked up from his book when a panting Matt threw himself into the booth the older man managed to snag.

“Did you run here?” Shiro raised one dark brow in question and Matt nodded in response.

“I d-did,” he huffed, trying to catch his breath. 

“Here, have my water and take a deep breath man.” Shiro rested his chin in his hand as he watched Matt gulp down the water. “So, what’s his name?”

Matt set the cup down and smiled widely. “Oh man Shiro, I’ll have to sneak a picture of him to send to you. It’s insane how beautiful he is, his name is Kei-”

“Hey Shiro, and” a voice interrupted, “Matt?”

The sandy haired brunette whipped around quickly. “K-Keith!?” He stumbled as he jumped up and out of the booth. “W-what are you doing here? Are you following me?” He grinned, trying to turn his surprise into casual flirting. 

“No. I’m here to see my brother Shiro. You know, the guy you’re sitting in this booth with.”

Matt looked back at Shiro who was watching both of them with an amused smirk. “Matt, meet my younger brother Keith.”

The two men continued to stare at each other until Shiro sighed. “Come on guys, sit down.” 

Keith squeezed in beside his brother and Matt sat across from them. “So,” Shiro grinned at Matt. “How do you two know each other?”

Matt glared at him but it was Keith who spoke up. “We have ethics together. That was the class I was in just now. He asked me to be his study…” Keith froze and looked over at Matt. “Wait a second.”

“Y-yeah?” Matt gulped.

“You’re Matt Holt, aren’t you? Shiro’s genius best friend!? You don’t really need a study buddy do you?”

Busted, again.

“Um, I haven’t taken ethics before so I don’t know, maybe I do?” Matt tried not to let his panic show. He had just been caught in a lie but there was no way he could tell him the truth, he’d sound like the creep Keith was already worried he’d be.

Keith shook his head. “If what Shiro says is true, then I really don’t think you need one. So why did you lie and ask me to be your study partner?”

He was officially freaking out now and he swore he could _feel_ his brain struggling to think of something convinving. “I was looking...for a new friend!” He blurted out.

Keith looked at him dubiously while Shiro covered his obvious laugh with a cough.

“You were looking for a friend?”

“Y-yeah, so my only friends are Shiro and this guy named Rolo and they’re both always trying to get me to socialize. So today I was crazy late for class and was resigned to sitting in the back of the class and you were in the back so I assumed that you were late too and I decided to try and make a new friend?” Matt said quickly, desperately hoping that this sounded somewhat plausible. Keith was silent as he worked through what Matt said while Shiro continued to terribly hide his laughter. Traitor.

The two brothers had been staring at him, Keith with a doubtful look and Shiro with an amused one, for so long that Matt was sure he’d die of old age right here in this booth. “Okay, sure,” Keith finally said. “I don’t know you so I’m going to take your word for it.” Without waiting for Matt’s reply he turned to his brother. “Hey, so I’m gonna head home. I’ve got three chapters to read for my physics class by the end of this week.”

The older man nodded and handed a cardboard to-go cup to his brother. “Want me to bring dinner?” Shiro asked as Keith stood and took the proffered cup of coffee. “I’ll be home a bit late today though.”

“Please?” Keith gave him a small grin. “ I don’t mind, I’ve got some chips to snack on plus you know I’m crap at cooking.”

“You got it. I’ll see you at home kiddo.”

Keith nodded at his brother before turning to Matt. “You know you didn’t have to lie, man. You could’ve just tried to talk to me without pretending like you needed help studying. Shiro has told me that you're pretty cool though so I’ll let it slide this time. I’ll see ya around Matt.”

As soon as Keith was out of the café Matt collapsed onto the table and Shiro finally let out the laughter he had been holding back. “So my brother was the, hold on so I can get this right,” Shiro grinned as he fished his phone out of his pocket, “the most stunning, gorgeous, and beautiful man that you had ever seen?”

Matt sat back up and glared at his friend. “I think you know that he is. You could’ve warned a guy y’know. Some friend you are,” he grumbled.

“Warned you about what exactly? Should I have said something like, hey so my little brother started here this semester. I think you two could be friends, I’ll introduce you to him. Oh, by the way he’s incredibly beautiful?” 

“Yes! That exact thing would’ve been great.”

Shiro rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Dude, that would’ve been crazy and you know it.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Don’t worry buddy, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You’ll meet someone else soon.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Matt asked slowly, looking at the older man suspiciously.

“Well now you know that he’s my brother, so Keith is out but you’ll meet someone else.”

Matt could not believe what he was hearing. “So you’re telling me that Keith is off limits because he’s your brother?”

“Yes, of course he is. I thought that was obvious.”

“What the actual fuck Shiro!? He’s an adult you know and you can’t just decide who he does or doesn’t date.”

“That’s not what I’m doing at all. He’s free to date whoever he wants, I’m just saying that it can’t be you.” Shiro flinched when he saw Matt’s eyes widen in shock. “That came out wrong.”

“Ya think!?”

“Look, it’s not because I think badly of you. The reason I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to date my brother is because you….you get bored Matt. You get very bored, very quickly. Your relationships never last longer than a week and a half. I think it’s because no one has ever been stimulating enough to keep you interested. Keith is a special kid, he’s had a rough life and the last thing he needs is for someone else to walk out on him. He doesn’t need the pain of a heartache right now.”

“That’s unfair Shiro. You weren’t in those relationships, you have no idea what happened and you have no right to assume that I got bored and left.” Matt scooted out of the booth and gathered his things. “You also can’t predict the future and assume I’ll be the one to hurt him.” 

Matt walked out of the coffee shop, ignoring Shiro’s pleas to stay and talk. 

* * *

“Piiiiidge!” Matt groaned. “He’s so cute and Shiro doesn’t want me to date him! What do I doooooo?” He flopped down onto his little sister’s bed with a loud huff.

“Why the fuck are you bothering me with this? Just talk to Keith, he’s actually pretty cool despite the emo loner vibes he gives off.”

Her older brother raised his head to look at her. “You...you know Keith?”

She hadn’t meant to let that slip. “Uh, yeah I do,” she answered slowly. “He was a senior in high school when I started last year but I had a couple of senior classes and we became friends.”

He sat up eagerly and grabbed his sister’s desk chair to swing her around to face him. “So you can help me!”

She knew this would happen if she told him that she knew Keith and of course she had to go and mention it. Pidge sighed and looked at him before slowly shaking her head. “Don’t get mad but, I kind of agree with Shiro.”

“Et tu Katie!?” He flung himself back onto the bed.

“I mean he has a point. Your relationships never last, they’re so short that you don’t even tell mom and dad that you’ve met someone. It’s almost as though you already know they won’t last.”

Matt’s hands clenched into fists. Did everyone think it was always his fault that no one stuck around? “You weren’t in those relationships and neither was Shiro. I don’t think either of you are qualified to say anything about my dating life.”

“You’re right. We weren’t there but you didn't tell us anything either so we were left to speculate.” She scratched her arm absentmindedly. “The thing with Keith is that he’s fragile. He doesn’t act like it but he is. He’s been hurt, big time, and he’s gone through a lot of shit.”

He sat up to look at her. “Shiro said the same thing. What exactly did Keith go through?”

“It isn’t for us to say. It’s his story to tell. All you need to know right now is that he’s a precious snowflake and if you hurt him forget about Shiro killing you, I’ll kill you myself. Just get to know him Matt, be his friend. He could use more of them.”

He nodded thoughtfully before grinning broadly. “Let’s throw a party.”

Well. That was a complete one-eighty. 

“Did you hit your head and lose your goddamned mind? That came out of fucking nowhere and we live with our parents Matt, how in the world are we going to throw a party?”

“It just popped into my head.” Matt shrugged. “They’re going away in two weeks, remember? It won’t be a big party. I’ll invite Shiro, Keith, and Allura and you can invite Hunk and Lance.”

Pidge hummed. “I guess that could work, oh you should tell Keith to bring his friend Romelle too. He’ll feel more comfortable if he has her and Shiro there. Especially since Lance will probably start some shit with him because he claims that they’re rivals or whatever.”

Matt chuckled. “Lance is crazy but he’s a good guy.”

“You only say that because you both are walking memes.”

He clutched at his chest and staggered backwards, pretending to be in pain. “Slain? By my own flesh and blood?”

Pidge just rolled her eyes and turned back to her computer. “Loser.”

“You wound me Pidge,” Matt cried out dramatically before throwing himself on the floor. 

“I swear Matt, I will kick you. Now get out, go text Keith or something. Get him some coffee, he’s addicted to the stuff.”

He sat up. “He’s studying for his physics class though.”

“So? Aren’t you majoring in it? You’re a genius, offer him some help.” 

Matt stood and ruffled his sister’s hair as she hissed at him to stop. “That’s why I come to you little gremlin. You’re so smart.” He ran out of the room before she could punch him and escaped to his bedroom.

He sat at his computer desk and grabbed his phone to text Keith. He slowly spun around in his chair and his fingers were shaking as they hovered over his phone, trying to figure out what to type. 

Matt:

Hey Keith, it’s Matt.

I know that when you left school

you were going home to study physics

I’m actually really great at physics.

I’m majoring in it.

So if you need any help I’m here.

He stared at his messages for far too long after sending them. Did he sound like a loser? Keith was taking too long to answer, maybe he freaked him out? Were his texts too aggressive? Matt moved to lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was overthinking this, he knew it and yet he couldn’t stop. He wanted to get to know Keith, not only was he alluring but his reticent attitude inexplicably drew Matt to him. Shiro and Pidge talking about his troubled past did little to quell his interest in the quiet man. He also really wanted to impress him, to make Keith want to get to know him as much as he wanted to get to know Keith.

His phone dinged and Matt sat up to look at it far too quickly then he would ever admit.

Keith:

Hey Matt.

I actually wouldn’t mind the help.

Would you be able to meet up Friday? 

I know a great coffee shop where we can study in peace.

Matt answered him immediately, regretting it as soon as he hit send. He was going to look so desperate, answering right away like that. 

Matt.:

I have a class BUT

I am totally free after 2pm.

I can meet you there if you want to snag us a table?

  
  


“Matt, you idiot,” he whispered to himself as he stared at his message, sent not even a minute after Keith’s. Much to his surprise Keith also answered immediately and it made Matt smile. At least he wasn’t the only eager one.

Keith:

Sounds good.

I’ll send you the address.

See ya then.

Matt:

Cool. 

Keith?

Keith:

Yeah?

Matt:

I’m sorry about what happened in ethics today.

I didn’t mean to lie

I’ve always been that really smart kid that people befriended just to pass.

And I guess I just wanted to know that I could be friends with someone

without being used.

Keith:

It’s okay Matt.

I always have trouble making friends too.

We’ll hang out, no pressure.

I promise not to use you for your brain.

Except for Friday.

But let the record show, you offered it.

Matt:

Lol thanks man. 

See you later Keith.

Keith:

See ya.

Matt lay back on his bed, grinning goofily up at his bedroom ceiling. He was meeting Keith for coffee on Friday and his heart was doing little flips in his chest at the thought. He was determined to call that beautiful boy his one day.

* * *

He was late. Of course he was, that seemed to be his perpetual state of being. Matt swore softly and shot Keith a quick text. 

Matt:

Stuck in class

It was supposed to be over 15 minutes ago.

OH! HE’S DONE!

FINALLY. 

Omw!

He sent the messages in quick succession, not giving Keith anytime to reply.

Keith:

Wow, um ok. 

Drive Safely.

He did not drive safely. Matt drove quickly, determined not to make his cute crush wait any longer and made some very questionable maneuvers in order to save time. When he finally parked he checked his phone and saw that he was about forty-five minutes late. “Fuuuuuuck me,” he groaned. 

What a way to make an impression. So far he’s lied to Keith and was late for their first hangout. What’s next? Getting him kicked out of school? He shut off the car and got out, hopefully Keith wasn’t too upset over his tardiness. 

Matt walked in and immediately spotted Keith sitting alone in a round booth. His jet black hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with loose strands framing his face and perched on his nose was a pair of black glasses. He was hunched over two books and various notebooks, reading and meticulously taking notes. 

He was admiring Keith from a distance when the other man looked up and waved awkwardly at him. He smiled in response, after pretending to look around the room, and walked over to him.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I tried to get here as fast as I could.” 

Keith shook his head. “I understand, don’t apologize man.” His cheeks started to turn pink as he turned his face away from Matt. “Um, when I got here there weren’t any tables s-so I grabbed this booth. I hope you don’t mind.”

A nice small booth where he could cozy up to Keith? Matt did not mind that at all. “I like booths better anyway. It’s more conducive to study breaks than a table.” He flashed Keith a bright smile and settled in. “So where are you stuck?”

Keith’s eyes finally landed back on Matt’s and he couldn’t help but thank whatever force brought him and Keith together. “Who said I’m stuck?”

“Well when I walked in you were frowning at your textbook and flipping through your notebook where I could see you had already taken notes, although I didn’t recognize you with your nose buried six feet deep into your notebook,” he laughed. “So I assume that you’re stuck?”

Dark eyes narrowed at Matt before closing as Keith sighed in defeat. “Fine, I might be kind of stuck.” He opened his eyes again to glare halfheartedly at his tutor. Matt dared to scoot a little closer, celebrating when Keith didn’t move away.

“That’s what I’m here for, to help you get unstuck. Now, tell Dr. Matt what’s wrong so that I can fix it.”

Keith rolled his eyes but the corners of his lips curled up in a small smile. “You’re a weirdo, you know that?”

* * *

“Okay, break time. Keith, buddy I am EXHAUSTED!” Matt announced and slouched down into the booth.

“We’ve only been studying for two hours? What kind of college student are you? I’m only a week in and I’ve already pulled two all-nighters.”

“Keith, my dude, I am the best kind of college student. I do whatever I want, pass my classes, and still find the time to enjoy the little things in life.”

“So, lazy?”

Matt nearly slid out of the booth when he heard that. “N-no, I do all my work thank you very much. I just don’t have to work as hard as most.”

“You’re a lazy genius Matt, I get it. You just think you’re better than everyone else.” Keith had a teasing smirk on his face and Matt could only grin.

“Yeah well, why deny the obvious?” He laughed. “What about you, boy wonder?” He asked.

“What about me?”

“Shiro told me you were at the top of your class in high school, despite some trouble that you got into. He didn’t elaborate.”

Keith leaned back and crossed his arms. “Well, it was exactly that. I was at the top of my class and then I got into some trouble. I was almost thrown out of school but somehow Shiro convinced them to give me another chance. So I stayed within the lines and graduated. Now here I am.”

Matt nodded thoughtfully. So that was a touchy subject, moving on.

“How are you enjoying college so far?” He asked, sensing that Keith was starting to close off. “Doing the whole college kid thing?”

“It’s fine, I’ve only been here one week though. Ask me that again in a month.” He blew his bangs out of his face. “What do you mean the whole college kid thing?”

“Partying,” Matt stated simply.

“Again, I’ve only been here for a week Matt.”

The older man smirked at him. “So? I’ve already been invited to two different parties this week. I didn’t go, but they’re happening.”

“Yeah well, I don’t have the time for that stuff.”

“For going to one party?”

“For Parties, meeting people, dating, all of it.”

Matt studied Keith and their eyes locked as he thought about his next comment. “I was only talking about parties,” he said with a small grin, “So I take it that means you’re single?”

Keith turned bright red and tore his eyes away from Matt’s. “Does that even matter?”

Oh it mattered very much to Matt. This conversation was proving to be very informational but Matt had to watch what he said, he was learning quickly that Keith was very defensive.

“It does since I’m trying to get to know you. I doubt that you are though, I mean, look at you. You probably have a girlfriend, a high school sweetheart. If it helps you, I am totally single.”

Keith snorted. “You? Single? I doubt that very much and no I don’t have a girlfriend. So what is that confession supposed to help me with exactly?”

“To share, get personal with me. Tit for tat, y’know? I share something, you share something.” Matt leaned back and placed his arms behind his head. “Why would you doubt my status as an eligible bachelor? I am single as a pringle. No girlfriend, no boyfriend, it’s just me, myself, and I.”

The dark haired boy was blushing again and damn it if Matt didn’t find it adorable. 

“B-because you’re really...um, good looking.” Keith stuttered out. “B-boyfriend?”

“So you think I’m handsome?” Matt winked at him. “I’m bisexual,” he answered easily with a shrug of his shoulders. “I hope that’s not a problem?” Hopefully he’d find out now if Keith was into guys too.

Keith shook his head and looked away again. “It’s not,” he said as he nervously scratched the back of his head. “You admit that so quickly and easily,” he said softly.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Matt sensed a change in Keith’s demeanor and leaned in close to him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Dark eyes met hazel ones and Matt felt an overwhelming urge to kiss this gorgeous boy. An urge he had to force down because he could sense that Keith needed things to move slowly and Matt had a feeling that Keith was worth going slow for.

“How can you be so sure of that?” Keith tore his eyes away from Matt and looked down once more. “Everyone acts like it’s a shame that needs to be hidden.”

“Keith.” Matt took a chance and reached out to take Keith’s chin in his hand and turn his face back to his. “You’ve been around the wrong kind of people, that’s all. It’s not something to hide. All hiding does is poison us from the inside out, twisting us into people we never wanted to be.” 

Keith stared into Matt’s eyes, his own wide with anxiety and fear. “I’m gay,” he whispered. “I’ve never been able to admit that to someone I just met.” His brows furrowed in confusion. “So why did I just tell you?”

Matt gave him a soft smile, celebrating internally that Keith still hadn’t pulled out of his grip. “Maybe because I opened up to you? Made you feel safe to come out to me?”

Keith continued to stare at Matt, their faces just inches apart. “I dunno, I….I just don’t know.” He swallowed thickly and continued to gaze unwaveringly into Matt’s eyes. “There’s something different about you, I can’t explain it.” 

The older boy was painfully aware of just how close they were. It would be so easy to just lean in, so he did but Keith visibly stiffened. Matt stopped and smiled gently. 

“Thank you for telling me Keith,” he said as he planted a brief kiss on Keith’s cheek. He had to do something to justify his closeness and it became clear that he needed to move slower than he thought with Keith.

Matt moved away, smiling when he noticed just how red his study partner was, and relaxed back into the booth again. “Seriously Keith, thanks for trusting me with that. I know it’s hard to say that to someone you just met.” Matt shot finger guns at him and grinned widely. “Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“That was so cheesy,” Keith chuckled, his face still red. “Way to ruin the moment.”

“I am the king of cheesy, despite what anyone else tells you and moment ruining is my specialty.”

Keith laughed and looked away. “Thank you Matt, really, for being so accepting. Only Shiro has made me feel safe enough to admit that to.”

Matt nodded and sipped on his coffee. “Anytime, seriously, you can come to me with anything Keith.” He suddenly thought of something that would hopefully put Keith back at ease so he decided to say it. “That includes the feelings you’ll inevitably develop for me. Don’t worry though, you can tell me all about how madly in love with me you are.”

Keith just rolled his eyes and opened up his textbook. “Can we get back to physics now, Romeo?” He smirked.

“Only if that makes you my Juliet,” he replied with a wink.

Keith leveled a serious look at him. “Physics, now.”

“If we must!” Matt cried dramatically as he slapped his palms onto the table and turned back to Keith’s books, almost missing the small smile and faint blush on his new friend’s cheeks.

He was so thankful that he caught it.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. I Was Alone, and Then I Met You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt and Pidge throw a party and some things work out better than expected and Keith is a blushing mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the wait but here is chapter 2!
> 
> PSA/WARNING: Underage drinking. I am not encouraging it but if you're gonna do it just be smart about it and don't drink and drive!

“Alright you two, please behave this weekend,” Matt and Pidge’s mom begged. “The last thing we need is another call from the police department.”

“Pidge was the one that started that fire and I managed to extinguish it. It’s not my fault that old lady Johnson next door freaked out and called 911,” Matt replied quickly. 

“Listen to your mother. We would like to come home to a house and not to a burnt pile of rubble,” their father said sternly as he grabbed their mother’s bags.

“Dad please, have some faith in us. We’ve grown since the last time. Pidge will be playing video games all weekend and I will be in my boxers eating my weight in pizza rolls the whole time,” Matt replied with a grin.

“Yeah right kid. I wasn’t born yesterday y’know.” Matt’s father ruffled his hair with a soft chuckle. “I’m sure you’ve already invited your friends to come over and hang out, just don’t get your sister and her high school friends drunk okay?” Mr. Holt gently tugged on his son’s hair and Matt retaliated by swatting his hands away..

“I can’t make any promises,” was Matt’s reply, of course he was only joking. Mostly. He knew his parents would figure out that they would invite their friends over and that alcohol would be involved (he was twenty-two after all), but the Holt children were responsible and their parents knew that they wouldn’t do anything too wild. Not again at least, they learned their lesson last time.

“Well, try to please,” his dad laughed as his mother turned to them with a pout. 

“Oh I hate leaving you kids alone.”

“Mom, it’s literally for three days and I’m an adult. We will be fine.”

“I’ve asked Shiro to check in on you two and he promised me that he would. He’s such a responsible young man,” She sighed and pulled a wriggling Pidge into her arms.

“MOM! I’m a grown man! I don’t need Shiro to come check up on me like I’m some kid!”

“Says the guy who just admitted to wanting to eat his weight in pizza rolls,” his sister snickered.

“Moooooooom,” he whined as she released Pidge and tugged him into a bear hug.

“We’ll see you two on Monday. We love you!” Their mother ignored him and gave each of them one last hug while their dad smiled and waved goodbye, ushering his wife out the door. 

Once their car had turned down the street Matt turned to his sister. “Now! On to party preparations!” 

Pidge looked around and raised a brow. “Um, what preparations? The house is clean and there is no way I’m putting up decorations.”

“Pidge, pidge, pidge,” Matt muttered while shaking his head. “I need to prepare my bedroom. It must be clean, presentable and the epitome of cool.”

“We’ve all seen the trash dump you call your bedroom. Why clean it now?”

“Keith hasn’t seen it and in the event that I am able to get him alone to make out with, duh. I can’t have my room looking like a pig pen.”

Pidge’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “Ugh, I did not need to have that image in my mind so, fuck you.” She began to walk up the stairs and to her room. “Have fun cleaning the petri dish that is your room, let me know if you need dad’s hazmat suit. I’m going to play video games until the guys show up.”

“You talk a big game for someone whose room is no better than mine! I’m surprised you haven’t contracted something yet,” he called after her before disappearing into his own room to clean. He stood there for nearly five minutes looking around his room. It looked like a tornado had passed through it, he had no idea where he should start. He sighed and rolled up his sleeves, this was all in the name of love he told himself as he picked up dirty laundry that had somehow found it’s way under his bed.

* * *

“Keith! Let’s go!” Shiro hollered through their small apartment.

“Give me a minute! Damn, I’m almost done!” Keith had been holed up in the bathroom for nearly forty-five minutes getting ready for Matt’s small party. This was after he spent an hour and a half in his bedroom trying to decide on what to wear. Normally he would just throw on whatever shirt he grabbed first and some jeans but today was different. Today he wanted Matt to see him looking his best.

Keith had thought a lot about that day in the coffee shop with Matt. It had been two weeks since the study “date” but he and Matt had either hung out together or spoke everyday since. It seemed like he couldn’y get enough of the older man. When they weren’t face to face they were constantly texting or video chatting, all day and late into the night. They texted each other before, during, and after classes. They spoke about everything and nothing, it was so easy to talk to him and Keith couldn’t seem to stop. Matt was quickly becoming Keith’s closest friend.

So close that he couldn’t stop thinking about the other man’s jokes, his smile, his expressive eyes, and his immeasurable kindness. Keith knew this friendship was becoming dangerous, he found himself wishing more and more that it might turn into something more than friends and it had only been two weeks for goodness sake!

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his hair was not cooperating and he was starting to lose his patience. He’d be lying if he said that he didn’t want to look good for Matt and he was taking an impossibly long time to get ready because of that fact. He just wasn’t used to this, trying to look attractive. He usually didn’t care what he looked like to other people, he had never been one to care about his physical appearance. His frustration with his hair continued to climb until he was scowling into the mirror.

“Keith! Jesus Christ.” the door to the bathroom flung open, making Keith jump in surprise, to reveal an equally frustrated Shiro. “Your hair looks fine. Get in the car now.”

Keith whirled around to face his brother. “I said to give me a minute!”

“Your minute’s up. Get in the car Keith.”

The young man flipped his older brother the bird as he marched out of the bathroom. His hair was just going to have to stay the way it was. “You fucking suck,” he mumbled as he pushed past Shiro.

“Yeah yeah, let’s go. Everyone is already there and we still have to pick up Romelle.” 

* * *

Once they arrived at the party Shiro spotted Allura watching a game of Super Smash Brothers between Lance and Pidge and quickly left Keith and Romelle to go talk to his longtime crush.

“That didn’t take long did it?” Romelle giggled as Keith sighed. 

“Of course he would immediately find his crush and leave us.”

“Speaking of crushes,” Romelle said as her own cheeks turned pink and her periwinkle eyes landed on Lance.

“You’re going to leave me too?” 

“Pish posh, from what you’ve told me about him, I’m sure this Matt will find you soon enough. Of course you could always come with me?” 

“And put up with Lance calling me mullet all night? Pass.”

“Your call. Toodle-loo.” She winked and walked towards the couch where Lance was perched, completely engrossed in his game with Pidge.

Keith watched her go and groaned. He was standing all alone in Matt’s house with Matt nowhere to be seen and watching everyone else mingle. This was why he didn’t go to parties. He had never had a lot of friends, he just wasn’t the socializing type. He shifted nervously, wondering if he should at least go and stand beside Pidge when he heard a large crash coming from down the hall, making him jump. Everyone turned to stare as Matt came scrambling into the room with Hunk on his heels. 

“Matt, bro, I am a culinary genius and you’re kind of in my way!”

“I was just trying to help!” Matt yelped. “I’ll stay out, just don’t come asking me where our spice cabinet is!”

“Don’t worry I won’t!” Hunk huffed as he retreated into what Keith now assumed was the kitchen.

Matt turned to see everyone staring at him. “Alright guys, show’s over. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programs,” he said, his face a bright red. As everyone slowly turned back to what they were previously doing Matt’s gaze landed on Keith and his face lit up. “Keith!”

Keith, in turn, smiled shyly and gave him a small wave. Matt wasted no time in making his way over to him.

“Hey, I’m really glad you came.”

Keith could feel his heart racing at Matt’s smile. “Yeah well, Shiro dragged me here.” He smirked up at the taller man. 

Matt chuckled. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t want to see me.”

“Wow, someone has a big ego.” Keith’s remark earned him a crooked grin that sent his heart into overdrive.

“You look nice tonight, by the way,” Matt said quietly.

The dark haired man glanced down at his outfit. Keith had settled on black skinny jeans with ripped holes at the knees and that clung tightly to his shapely legs, red converse high tops, a white v-neck shirt underneath a long sleeved red plaid shirt, and a black beanie he had found in Shiro’s truck to hide his hair. 

“Y-yeah, I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate so,” he trailed off, looking anywhere but at Matt.

The older man chuckled softly and reached out to turn Keith’s face back to him, something Matt did often and the younger man couldn’t help but give into the gentle gesture. “You have a bad habit of looking away when I compliment you.”

Keith glared up at Matt. “Because you’re a notorious jokester and you’re probably messing with me.”

Matt opened his mouth to respond when someone knocked on the door. “Oh, sorry. Just wait here, that’s probably my friend Rolo with the booze.” Keith watched him step away to answer the door. 

“Hey man, finally. I was beginning to think that you weren’t gonna show.”

“Dude, I wouldn't leave you high and dry like that,” an unfamiliar voice laughed. Keith watched as a tall muscular guy stepped in carrying a couple of bags on one arm and a large case of beer in the other. He was followed by a tall blonde woman who carried a few more bags. “Hey Mattie!”

Matt grinned and gave her a hug. “Hey Nyma. So let me introduce you guys.” He turned to face the room as his friend kicked the door shut. “Alright so you guys know Shiro, Allura, and my sister. So we have master chef Hunk in the kitchen who I’m sure will make an appearance later, Pidge’s friend Lance,” He stopped when his eyes landed on Romelle. “A blonde girl I’ve never met before who I guess came with Shiro, and,” finally he turned to face Keith, “This is my good friend Keith. Everyone, this is my friend Rolo and his girlfriend Nyma.”

Everyone said a quick hello but Shiro and Allura exchanged more familiar greetings with the former asking to help relieve Rolo of some of his goods. Rolo thanked him for the help and handed over the case of beer to Shiro while Matt took the bags the couple had been carrying and headed towards the dining room to put everything into the cooler. As soon as Shiro and Matt left the room the impossibly tall man grinned at Keith. “So, you’re Keith huh?”

Keith was surprised to be addressed by the stranger. “Y-yeah.”

“Matt’s mentioned you a few times,” he said as his girlfriend wrapped her arms around him and peeked over his shoulder to smile warmly at Keith. 

“More than a few times babe, he can’t seem to stop.” She eyed Keith appraisingly. “You’re very cute by the way.”

Keith turned bright red, Matt had been talking about him? “T-thanks,” he stuttered. “What did you mean by Matt can’t stop? Stop what?” He was finding the idea of Matt constantly talking about him hard to believe.

Rolo grinned and was about to answer when Matt came rushing over, laughing nervously as he slung an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “Hey, Rolo, buddy. Beer Pong. Now, you game?”

“You know I am Holt. Are you prepared to get your ass beat?” The tall man laughed as Nyma shot a strange grin at Keith.

“Yeah sure man, as if you can beat me! Shiro you’re on my team!” Matt called out quickly before Rolo had the chance to. Shiro was, surprisingly, an amazing beer pong player and they both knew it. 

Rolo just shrugged. “Whatever, you can have him. My girl is just as good, right babe?”

Her smile was positively saccharine. “I’ll wipe the floor with them, my love. I won’t let you lose.”

Keith looked over at Matt, who's features were set into a look of determination. “You guys are so on.”

The two men raced to the backyard with Nyma, Shiro, and Allura following slowly. Keith watched them go and felt a twinge of disappointment. He missed the warmth of Matt pressed into his side and the weight of his arm around his shoulders. Worst of all, Matt hadn’t asked him to be on his team or to go and watch. 

Trying to ignore the disappointment blooming in his chest he just sighed and leaned against the wall. His dark eyes scanned the room to see what his other friends were doing.

Romelle was now sitting beside Lance on the couch as he taught her how to play Smash Brothers and Pidge could be heard conversing with Hunk in the kitchen. Everyone had someone to hang out with except him. He didn’t want to interrupt Lance and Romelle, even though he knew she’d be okay with it. He knew that Romelle had been crushing on Lance since their freshman year and she had a hard time talking to him at school. Now that the two of them were seniors she was afraid she’d never get the chance to tell Lance how she feels before they go away for college. So he would leave them alone, plus if he went over there Lance’s attention would be on him and the ridiculous “rivalry” he had imagined between the two of them and Romelle would be forgotten.

He thought about joining Pidge and Hunk but the two geniuses were talking about their classes and what Hunk was planning to do after graduating. He wasn’t dumb by any means but somehow those two made him feel like he was a complete dunce who would benefit from remedial classes. They would’ve welcomed him into their conversation no doubt but he just couldn’t bring himself to walk over to them.

Keith felt like an intruder, he didn’t belong in their conversations and he couldn’t help but feel like they would resent him for trying to be. So he grabbed a beer and silently shuffled through the house, inspecting the different rooms and waving to Hunk and Pidge as he passed the kitchen. 

Once he completed a lap around the house he realized that he was alone in the house now. It seemed that everyone had taken an interest in Matt and Rolo’s beer pong competition. As the game grew in intensity, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Romelle had wandered outside to watch. He was four beers in when he decided to make his way to the second floor. Grabbing himself a fifth beer he started to climb up the stairs, nearly tripping halfway. 

He could hear the cheering and laughing from the backyard, he tuned it out as he focused on his tipsy ascent. A particularly loud cry made its muffled way into the house just as Keith reached the top. He recognized it as Matt’s and felt his heart squeeze painfully as he began his exploration of the upstairs hall. He sipped on his beer as trudged along, looking over family photos and giggling at a young bespectacled Matt with braces. He smiled warmly at the photo, taking note of how cute Matt looked in a bowl cut.

He eventually stumbled upon a door with a sign that read;

“The Genius Bar,

GREMLINS NOT PERMITTED”

“Sounds like something that dork would say,” Keith chuckled as he told himself that this had to be Matt’s room. He opened the door, slowly and stepped in. It was neater than he imagined it would be.The bed was pressed against the back wall of the room, which was covered in shelving and filled with books. A small desk with a desktop computer and a laptop sitting on it was immediately to the left of the door. Neon yellow post-it notes were stuck over every inch of the desk but the handwriting was illegible so Keith just assumed that it was some sort of insane organizational system. 

He continued his walk around the room and was delighted to come across a portable record player on a small stand beside the closet. It was closed and the top was a little dusty but when he opened it, it was in perfect condition. Keith glanced around quickly, searching for any records, and found them on one of the lower shelves above the bed. He flipped through them and found one of his favorite albums. 

He couldn’t believe that Matt had this, first of all it was an older record (1986 to be exact) and it just didn’t seem to be the type of music he would listen to. Keith didn’t question it any further and popped the record onto the player and put the needle in place. He hummed along to the first song as he scanned the shelves checking out the kind of books Matt read.

The range of genres was impressive, he had everything from fantasy and sci-fi to astrophysics and mathematics. Matt truly was a man of many interests, it was no wonder Keith enjoyed talking to him as much as he did. He had so much to say and his vast intelligence enthralled Keith. He could listen to the sandy haired brunette talk forever and never tire of it. With a sigh at a future that would probably never happen, Keith pulled out a book on stars and constellations just as the first side ended. He flipped the record over and smiled as his favorite song started. 

He sat down on Matt’s bed and thumbed through the book while singing softly. As he neared the chorus he set the book down and lay back on the bed, pulling off his beanie in the process, while continuing to sing along. His eyes were closed and he was so engrossed in the song that he completely missed the sound of footsteps and Matt standing at the door with a lovesick grin on his face. 

Matt stood there watching Keith, he couldn’t believe that this amazing boy was lying on _his_ bed and singing along to Peter Gabriel. If he could control time he would use his power to freeze time right now. He would spend the rest of his life memorizing everything he could about this moment. Keith’s long hair fanned out on his pillow, his incredible body relaxed and laying on his bed, and his voice. 

He had the voice of an angel. Matt told himself that he shouldn’t be surprised that Keith could sing so well, there seemed to be nothing he couldn’t do, but he was. Keith was always surprising him and Matt found himself unable to resist the pull of the gorgeous man before him. He was being drawn into Keith’s orbit and he could feel it and it was all he wanted, all he ever dreamed about. 

The brunette stood there watching Keith for a few minutes before he took off his shoes and quietly moved closer to the object of his affections. As the chorus started again Matt grinned and sang along.

  
  


“In your eyes the light, the heat,

“Your eyes, I am complete.

“In your eyes, I see the doorway

“To a thousand churches.

“In your eyes, the resolution.

“Your eyes, of all the fruitless searches.”

  
  


Keith jumped up with a surprised squeak. “M-Matt! I...fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come in here! I was just alone and bored and…”

“Keith, slow down,” Matt interrupted with a chuckle. “It’s okay, I’m the one who should be sorry. It took me way too long to realize that you were the only one not outside. We, no, I left you all alone in the house. So, I’m sorry for running off with Rolo like that. I was actually hoping you’d come outside to witness my victory.”

Dark eyes blinked slowly. “Why? You ran off without a word. I didn’t know that you wanted me to follow you.”

Matt’s cheeks turned pink. “I was hoping that you would so that I could impress you with my beer pong prowess.”

Keith laughed. “Seriously? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m more impressed by your books and record collection. So I’m glad I stayed inside. I discovered another side to the mysterious Matthew Holt.” He smiled and motioned over to the record player. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a Peter Gabriel kind of guy.”

“I am multifaceted, Keith. An enigma wrapped in a puzzle. Plenty for you to figure out and never get bored.” Matt sat on the bed, in front of Keith and grinned widely. He was trying not to panic, the boy he liked was in his room and sitting on his bed. He couldn’t have planned this any better.

The song changed and Matt frowned. “This particular record is from my parent’s collection and I do love it, it's a great album, buuuuut,” he leaned down and switched off the record player. “Alexa, pair bluetooth.” A small device that Keith hadn’t noticed stirred and announced that it was now connected to Matt’s phone. He scrolled through his phone, found “In Your Eyes” and played it, making sure that repeat one was on. “The bad thing about record players is that there isn’t a repeat button.” 

As the song started playing again Keith looked at Matt with a raised brow. “I won’t lie, this is my favorite song off of this album and possibly my favorite song about love ever, but why would you play it again?”

In truth, it was because Matt wanted to kiss him and this song was the perfect make out song and the fact that Keith loved it was a bonus.

“I played it because, if you’d let me, I’d like this to be the song playing the first time I kiss you,” he replied softly.

Oops. 

Keith’s face turned completely red as Matt’s tipsy brain finally registered what he had just said. He hadn’t meant to say that at all! It wasn’t smooth or romantic, he just sounded like a creep. He wasn’t sure how to even begin fixing this. Keith was going to reject him, he just knew it, and nothing could’ve prepared him for that or for what came next.

“When the chorus starts.” He was looking directly into Matt’s eyes now. “Kiss me then.”

That was not a rejection, that was very much an invitation and Matt couldn’t stop his heart from racing at those words. He moved closer to Keith as the music started to pick up, he couldn’t believe it. He was going to kiss his crush. Matt just hoped he didn’t mess it up. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “It drives me crazy.”

“But whichever way I go,

“I come back to the place you are.”

Keith looked away in embarrassment but Matt reached out to take his chin in his hand and gently turn his face back to him. 

“All my instincts,

“They return. 

“The grand façade,

“So soon will burn.”

“Why do you always hide from me?” He asked gently, as he moved his hand to brush some hair behind Keith’s ear, thankfully he had taken off that stupid beanie.

“Because, you wouldn’t say those nice things if you knew the real me.”

“Without a noise,

“Without my pride.

“I reach out from the inside.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Keith. I think you’re amazing.” Matt gazed affectionately into his eyes as the chorus finally began. 

Without another word he leaned in and pressed his lips to Keith’s. They were every bit as soft as he imagined. It took Keith a few seconds to respond but soon his arms were wrapping around Matt’s shoulders. Matt, in turn, wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist and pulled him into his lap until Keith was straddling him, their lips never separating.

He pulled back at that point to look up at Keith, his dark eyes were beginning to shine with desire and Matt grinned. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly.

Keith nodded and held his gaze. Matt was surprised to see that his dark eyes held flecks of purple in them. Keith’s indigo eyes were enchanting and the longer he stared into them the more he began to finally understand the meaning behind the words to Peter Gabriel’s song.

“I like you Matt,” the words were low and nearly inaudible. “I like you a lot, I tried not to but you make it so easy to like you.”

Matt smiled up at him. “The real reason I spoke to you that day in Ethics class was because you were so gorgeous that you left me breathless. I’ve been falling for you every day since.”

Keith’s face was beautifully flushed as he placed his hands on Matt’s cheeks and brought their lips together once more. “In Your Eyes” played continuously in the background as their lips met over and over again. Eventually Matt maneuvered them so that Keith was laying on his back with Matt above him, settled comfortably in between his legs.

When Matt moved his lips to kiss along Keith’s jaw, the young man sighed blissfully and when his lips moved to his neck, Keith moaned. Matt was beginning to lose himself in Keith and it was making him deliriously happy. He could feel Keith’s arousal as well as his own beginning to stir so he pulled back and held himself up, his hands on either side of his crush’s head. Keith looked absolutely delicious below him and he couldn’t look away. His dark hair was splayed out on Matt’s pillow once more, his lips were gorgeously swollen from the fervent kissing, and his eyes (those beautiful indigo eyes that Matt could see the stars in) were clouded with lust.

“We should stop,” it pained him to say that because all he wanted was to keep kissing Keith and never stop.

Keith blinked slowly as he worked to comprehend what was said. Once it finally went through he turned away and nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Matt was confused. “What are you sorry for?”

“For,” he waved his hands between them. “This, you didn’t like it. I’m sorry.”

The older man chuckled tenderly. “Keith, if I didn’t like it I would’ve stopped and this,” he gently pressed his arousal into Keith who let out a mixture of a sigh and a moan. “Would not have woken up. For lack of a better word.”

He leaned down and kissed Keith softly. “I meant what I said. I like you Keith. I’ve dreamt of kissing you since the day we met. I’m just pretty tipsy and I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he eyed Keith’s empty beer bottle. “I found 4 of those downstairs on the table so I’m pretty sure you’re feeling buzzed too. Plus I’d like to remember anything that happens between us. So let’s calm down and go join the others.”

Keith nodded and kissed Matt again. “So you mean it?”

Matt hummed and kissed him sweetly. “I dooo and if you keep kissing me I’m not going to let you leave this bedroom.”

Keith giggled and Matt smiled ecstatically. That was so cute, perhaps he should just keep Keith in here with him. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop but if you want to head downstairs I need you to move,” the dark haired angel beneath him said.

Matt groaned. “But I have such a nice view.” 

“Play your cards right and that view can be all yours Holt.” The brunette was lightly shoved by Keith as he laughed and made his escape out of Matt’s bedroom.

Matt fell out of the bed and scrambled to follow Keith out the door, nearly forgetting to put on his shoes. “Don’t tease me like that! I’m not sure how much my poor heart can take!”

“Tease you? Why I would never,” Keith’s sentence was cut short when he spotted Shiro looking curiously up at him from the bottom of the staircase. 

“There you are. What were you doing,” his older brother paused as Matt came barreling down the stairs and bumped into Keith who had stopped halfway down.

“Oh fuck,” Matt swore as Shiro’s eyes narrowed. 

“Hey you two, what were you guys doing upstairs?”

“Matt was showing me his record collection,” Keith answered quickly and without breaking eye contact with Shiro. “I had told him about mine last week so he showed me his. Did you know that he likes Peter Gabriel?” 

“I did not,” Shiro said slowly, clearly unsure about whether or not to believe him. The two brothers continued to stare each other down until Allura gently grabbed Shiro’s arm. 

“Shiro, come get a drink with me. There is something I wanted to discuss with you.”

He stared at Keith for a minute longer before nodding and allowing Allura to lead him outside. Matt sighed in relief as all the tension in the room followed Shiro out the door. 

“That was some quick thinking dude.”

Keith shrugged and continued his descent. “I’m used to it.”

“You’re used to lying?” Well that was decidedly not cute.

“I’m used to bending the truth when it comes to Shiro. I hate it but he’s ridiculously overprotective and if I didn’t do it I would never experience anything. It’s not like I’m a compulsive liar or anything, in fact I rarely lie. I just have to fib a little with him.”

Oh.

Matt nodded and followed Keith to the kitchen. “Was he like this when you guys were younger?”

Keith closed the fridge and turned around to face Matt and handed him a beer. “He...he never told you about us?”

Sandy brown brows furrowed in confusion. “Is there something about you and Shiro that I should know about?” He asked as he placed his bottle on the granite counter.

“Matt….I’m an orphan,” Keith said slowly. “Shiro isn’t really my brother, he sort of adopted me but not really. I had just run away from my latest foster home when I met him. I refused his help at first but he kept coming around, bringing me food, clothes, blankets and soon he started to sit and talk with me.” Keith looked down at the beer in his hands. “Eventually he convinced me to come live with him. At this point I already saw him as an older brother so I went with him. When he started introducing me to his friends they always called me his little brother and we never corrected them because, in a way, they’re right.”

Keith started to tap the bottle in his hands nervously but Matt still saw the shake in them. “He took me in and gave me the life I didn’t think I’d ever have. I don’t think I can ever repay him for that.”

Matt gently took the bottle out of his hands and set it down beside his own. He pulled the shorter man into his arms and held him tightly as Keith continued his story.

“He’s so kind and I hate lying to him but he gets defensive of me when it comes to stuff like dating.”

“It’s okay Keith,” Matt said quietly. “I understand but maybe you should try talking to him?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just hard, he still sees me as that broken and sad little kid. It triggers some sort of fatherly instinct or something I guess.” Keith was not one for embraces but he didn’t mind being in Matt’s arms all that much. “Fuck, I’m ruining your party. I didn’t mean to burden you with my problems. I am so sorry,” Keith mumbled into Matt’s chest. 

“You’re not ruining it I promise. If anything you made this party the best one ever.” He pulled back to look at Keith with a grin on his face. “It was the setting of our first kiss after all.”

Keith let out a chuckle and pulled further away, he had never been comfortable with hugs and despite the warm feeling he felt wrapped up in Matt’s arms he still had to pull away. His aversion to them likely stemmed from the fact that he never received any form of affection growing up in foster care. 

“Yeah well it will also be our last if Shiro finds out. For some reason he gets all weird whenever I hang out with you, always interrogating me before and after I see you.”

“Yeah,” Matt sighed. “He doesn’t want me to date you. The day that we met, I ran out to tell him about this insanely gorgeous guy in my Ethics class and then you showed up and Shiro realized that I was talking about you. When you left he told me that I couldn’t date you.”

“That sounds like him alright,” Keith groaned. “I can’t believe this. I love the guy, I really do, but he drives me crazy sometimes. This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. I know he wants to look out for me but I was on my own for months after running away. I was homeless and doing fine before I met him.” Keith sighed heavily. “He just wants to protect me and I really appreciate that he cares but at some point he’s got to let me protect myself.”

Matt laughed softly and reached out to take Keith’s hands in his. “Hey, I really want this. You won’t need protection from me.” He paused and squeezed Keith’s hands gently. “Let me take you out. On a real date, we can dress up, and I’ll come pick you up. Shiro be damned. He will just have to accept the fact that I really like you.” He brought Keith’s hands up to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “Say you’ll go out with me?”

Keith’s face was bright red and he nodded before stuttering out a response. “Y-yes, of course I will. Um, but maybe we can keep it a secret for a bit? Let me break it to Shiro at the right moment.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Matt nodded and slowly pulled Keith towards him. “Then it’ll be our little secret.” He smiled as he pressed his lips to Keith’s.

“You know that means no kissing at a party Shiro is attending,” Keith laughed as he pulled back.

“He’s outside with Allura, he can’t see us.” Matt leaned in again but Keith broke free of his arms and dodged the kiss. 

“How about this, no kissing until our date and even then it’ll depend on whether or not the night went well.”

Matt groaned. “We just made out in my room, you’re killing me Keith.”

“Yeah but that was a spur of the moment thing, we’ve been drinking and Peter Gabriel was playing. It was the perfect recipe for seduction. I want to do this right, with you.”

The older man couldn’t help but smile. “Then you better get ready because I will completely dazzle you so that you’ll be begging for a goodnight kiss after our first date.”

“You better woo me right, Cassanova.”

“If I didn’t just agree to this,” Matt said as he moved closer to Keith, trapping him between the kitchen counter and his arms. “I’d be kissing the hell out of you right now,” he whispered as he pressed his lips to Keith’s neck. Keith grabbed the front of Matt’s shirt in response and closed his eyes with a soft sigh.

“Maaaatt, anyone could walk in here,” Keith begged him quietly.

Matt pulled away but kept his face close to Keith’s. “Next Saturday at six. Dinner and a surprise. Be outside your apartment building.” Matt was happy to see the blush on Keith’s face and his dark eyes focused on his own. 

“Okay,” Keith whispered. Matt pulled away and leaned against the wall directly opposite of Keith and grabbed his beer. Keith was staring at him with bright red cheeks and a frown. “You’re evil.”

“I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Matt smirked and took a swig from his beer just as Hunk walked into the kitchen.

He looked between the two before raising a curious brow. “Guys,” he started slowly, “the food is on the table, not in the kitchen. C’mon Shiro is inside now and wondering where you’ve gone again.”

Keith nodded and reached for his beer where Matt had set it down. “Let’s go loser,” he smirked at Matt before following Hunk out of the kitchen.

The sandy blonde man chuckled and took another sip before leaving the kitchen. When he joined the others at the table he noticed everyone quickly filling up their plates before the food was gone. A beautiful man with the softest lips Matt had ever had the honor of kissing sidled up beside him.

“Check out Shiro, he hasn’t stopped grinning like an idiot. He won’t talk to me but with the way Allura is blushing and fluttering her eyes when she looks at him, I think they finally admitted to being in love with each other.

Matt glanced over at his best friend and had to stifle the bark of laughter that nearly escaped him. Shiro seemed to be standing in a daze, eyes glazed over and staring at the wall. Pidge was slowly filling the plate in his hands with all her favorite foods until Hunk figured out that she was doing it to save herself second helpings and stopped her. 

“I think you might be right,” he said as Keith grinned and took an impossibly large bite out of the dinner roll in his hand.

“About time too,” the shorter man muttered. Matt took note of the breadcrumbs sticking to the left corner of his lips as Keith continued to talk, completely unaware of them. “I was so tired of hearing him whine about her. It would start from the moment he woke up until he went to bed or I ignored him and locked him out of my room.”

Matt chuckled and served himself some pork that Hunk somehow managed to conjure up. “Hunk, we didn’t have pork.”

“I know.” Was the only response he received before shrugging and serving himself more food.

“Well I for one, am glad that Shiro and Allura will finally start dating. He deserves to be happy and hopefully this will get him off my back about dating you,” Matt snickered.

Keith was about to respond when Lance pushed himself into the former’s personal space. “Hey mullet, what are you two whispering about over here?”

Dark eyes narrowed at the dreadful nickname. “We were laughing at Shiro, I mean just look at him.”

The Cuban boy turned and had to cover up his snort of laughter with a fake cough. “Oh man, I didn’t know he’d act like that when Allura asked him out.

“She what?!” Keith’s eyes were wide as he stared at Lance and Matt was starting to pick up on a strange vibe coming from the brunette as his blue eyes focused on Keith.

“She told me that tonight was the night that she was going to confess her feelings and ask if he’d like to get dinner with her,” Lance explained easily as he stole a roll off of Keith’s plate. 

“No wonder...hey that’s mine!”

“You snooze, you lose, mullet face.”

“I don’t have a mullet and if I did, it wouldn’t be on my face, idiot,” Keith barked back.

Matt was watching them with a growing suspicion and he decided to test out his theory. He looked over at Shiro who had finally been dragged out of his daze by Allura and the two of them were now sitting close together in the backyard. They were clearly wrapped up in their own little world so it was now or never Matt decided.

“You know what Lance? I’m sick of,” Keith trailed off when Matt gently grabbed his chin and leaned in to kiss the corner of his lips where the breadcrumbs were. 

“You had some bread on your face,” he whispered softly, his breath ghosting over Keith’s cheek. Both boys were blushing furiously as Matt smirked. Lance finally cleared his throat nervously.

“S-so Matt, are you and mullet brain here a….a thing?”

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.” He grinned. “We have a date Saturday night and if all goes well maybe I can call him mine one day.”

Keith turned quickly to glare at Matt. “What are you doing?’ he hissed. “What if Shiro saw?”

Matt watched a pained expression flash over Lance’s features from behind Keith. “Um so I’m," Lance trailed off and was looking anywhere but at them. "I’m gonna see if Hunk wants to play Smash Brothers after dinner,” he said quickly. “I’ll talk to you later Keith. See ya Matt.” Before they could say anything the lanky brunette ran off.

“He likes you,” Matt whispered. 

“What are you talking about?” Keith asked.

“Lance likes you.”

Keith just stared at him. “He does not, he’s always making fun of me and competing with me at everything.”

“Because he has a crush on you,” Matt insisted. 

Keith took hold of Matt’s wrist and pulled him out of the room, up the stairs, and back into his own bedroom. “Why do you keep saying that? I’m pretty sure that I’m the last person on this Earth that Lance McClain would want to date.”

Matt grinned and stepped closer to Keith. “By the looks of it I’d say you’re the first person on this Earth that he wants to date. I just want to tell you now, I don’t like sharing.”

Keith looked up at him. “You have nothing to worry about. I don’t have a crush on Lance, at least not anymore.”

The older man stepped closer, his body tense. So Keith used to have a thing for Lance. He silently prayed that this was never going to be an issue between them. “Promise?”

Dark eyes met him as his crush smiled sweetly. “I promise. I’m so into you Matt, it’s crazy. Everyday it threatens to swallow me whole.”

Matt leaned down, his lips inches from Keith’s. “I like you so fucking much Keith,” he whispered. “I don’t like it that he likes you.”

Keith’s eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in. “You have nothing to worry about, just trust me on that. I don’t want him, I want you.”

Just as Matt was about to erase the gap between them he heard someone gag. The two men jumped away quickly and turned to see Pidge standing at the door. “Ew Keith, don’t ever kiss him. You don’t know where he’s been. You might catch loser germs from him.”

“Way to kill the mood Katie,” Matt sighed and she grinned. 

“You should be thanking me, Shiro is looking for Keith. So you’re lucky I got to you first.” She turned to leave but turned back to them. “Oh yeah, Keith I put your plate of food in the microwave.”

“What about mine?” Her brother asked.

“Oh, I ate it,” she cackled maliciously as Matt chased her out of the room and down the stairs, with Keith following them quietly chuckling.

“There you are!” Shiro announced when he saw Keith. “Come on, it’s a sibling beer pong challenge. Us versus the Holts.”

Keith sighed. “Seriously?”

“Yup winner faces off against Hunk and Lance and the winner of that goes up against Rolo and Nyma,” his older brother explained. “We’ve got a whole tournament thing going.”

“Alright, let's get this over with,” Keith agreed before trudging outside. As he passed Matt, the older man smiled and whispered a quick “Good luck beautiful,” before taking his spot beside his sister.

“Round One!” Allura announced. “The Incredible Holts vs. The Broganes! BEGIN!” She shouted

They played well into the night until all the beer was gone and no one could keep their eyes open. Matt and Pidge grabbed extra blankets and pillows for everyone to sleep over, they would not allow any of their friends to drive after all their drinking. Rolo and Nyma got the guest room (the perks of being a couple), Allura and Romelle were crashing in Pidge’s room with her, and Shiro, Keith, Lance, and Hunk had to share the couch and loveseat downstairs. The older Holt had tried to convince the guys that the four them wouldn't fit in the living room and that one of them could crash in his small room. He had tried to reason that Keith, as the shortest of the four, made the most sense to share Matt's room but Shiro quickly shut that down with a stern warning to his best friend. So instead, Matt handed Keith a pillow with an easy smile and a hidden slip of paper. Keith waited until Shiro had gone to the bathroom to read it. 

_My door is always open._

_In case Shiro snores and you can’t sleep._

_No funny business, I promise._

Keith grinned happily and threw the paper away in the kitchen trash can. He just might take Matt up on his offer. 

  
  
  
  
  



	3. I Thought I Was So Smart And Then I Met You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things were going well between Keith and Matt until a misunderstanding leaves Keith wondering if Matt really cares for him the way he says he does. Sorry I suck so bad at summaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait. My laptop had crashed and I've some financial troubles and personal troubles that were getting in the way. Good news is that I got the laptop situation fixed. The other stuff not so much but I will still write chapters for this regardless. SO I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

Matt was pacing around his room nervously. Tonight was his date with Keith and needless to say, he was nervous. Nervous was a bit of an understatement, he was on the verge of full blown panic. Unsure of how to relax the brunette took to pacing around his room about four hours before his date, trying to calm down. His younger sister, Pidge, was sitting on his bed watching him carefully. 

“Dude, you’re making me anxious. Quit it. You’re freaking out over nothing.”

“It’s my first date with him Pidge, I can’t mess this up,” he said as he chewed on his bottom lip nervously. “I want to knock his socks off, figuratively and then literally.” He winked.

“GROSS,” she sighed loudly and lay back on his bed. “Fuck you. You won’t mess up. Even if you just take him to a McDonald’s and then sit in your car in the parking lot talking, he’ll love it. He’s pretty affection starved and even doing something as simple as that will make him happy,” she paused to sit up with a concerned look on her face. “That’s actually pretty sad. Do better than McDonald’s Matt, he deserves better.”

“Oh I will totally do better, I made reservations at a nice Italian place. He likes pasta right? I mean, who doesn’t?” His eyes widened. “Oh my GOD, what if he doesn’t like pasta!? I should’ve asked!” Matt threw himself face down on the floor. “He’s going to hate me,” he mumbled against the hardwood floor. 

"He won’t hate you, Keith doesn’t hate anyone. The only person he hates is Lance and honestly he doesn’t even hate him.”

That made Matt sit up. “Yeah, um, what exactly is their relationship?”

Pidge raised a brow. “Keith and Lance’s? Matt, you don’t need to be jealous of Lance, I hope you know that.”

“In theory I do. But that night when everyone was at our place I noticed something. Lance has a thing for Keith and when I brought it up to him, he didn’t exactly go into it but he mentioned having had feelings for Lance once.”

Pidge sighed. “Yeah, I found out about it last year. His crush apparently started Lance’s freshman year when they had Spanish together.”

Matt laughed. “Isn’t Lance Cuban? I thought he spoke Spanish?”

“Yeah he took it for an easy A, to bolster his gpa,” she explained quickly. “Anyway, Keith was still hopelessly crushing on Lance when I met him in his senior year. Halfway through the year he and Lance had a huge fight and a falling out.” She studied her brother’s face before continuing. 

“He wanted to tell Lance how he felt before he graduated but they had that fight and he never did. Just before the year ended, he told me that despite what happened between them he still had a huge crush on Lance but he was giving up on it because he was tired and he wanted to be happy.”

“Tired of what?” Matt asked.

“Of going after a guy that’s not interested.” She gave her brother a small smile. “Then he met you this year and I’ve never seen him happier. He likes you, Matt and despite what you noticed last weekend, Keith wants you. That much is obvious.”

“You really mean that?” He asked softly.

“Yes, I really do. I could see it. You guys haven’t even had one date yet and I could see that he’s already head over heels for you. Now relax and start getting ready. I mean you only have,” she checked the time on her phone, “three hours left before your date.”

“What?!” Matt jumped onto his feet. “That’s it?! I need to hurry. Pidge I don’t even know what to wear!”

Pidge groaned. “No way, I don’t need to see your sad little fashion show.” She hurried to the door before her brother could drag her further into his crazy.

“PIIIIIIDGE!” He whined loudly.

“NO! Get away from me!”

The two siblings continued to argue playfully until Matt had to actually get ready for his date and have his outfit approved by his sister, naturally.

* * *

Matt sat nervously in his car outside of Keith’s apartment building. His hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly to hide their shaking as he tried to calm himself down. “C’mon Matt, this won’t be the first time you’re alone with him.” He glared at his reflection in the rearview. “You can do this, you have a great date planned. Now tell him that you’re here and amaze him with your super romantic date!”

He stared at his reflection for a bit longer before sighing. “Me, romantic?” He bent forward until his forehead was resting against the steering wheel. “Who am I kidding, I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t run out of the restaurant.” He sighed and sat up. “Time to get this show on the road,” he told himself as he grabbed his phone.

Matt:

Hey, I’m outside

I can still go to your door 

if you’ve changed your mind, that is

Keith:

I’ll be right down

Give me 5 minutes

Matt slipped his phone back into his pocket and began to nervously tap the wheel. Unable to sit in his car any longer he got out and walked over to lean against the passenger door so he could see Keith when he walked out. Not that he had the courage to even look up, his head hung low as he stared down at his black dress shoes. He jumped when he heard a door close and he looked up to see Keith walking towards him. 

He swore he could feel his brain and heart stop as he took in the sight before him. Matt couldn’t believe that this was real, that someone this beautiful had agreed to a date with him of all people. Keith stopped before him with a small smile, pink cheeks, and his long black hair neatly braided.

“H-hey,” Keith said shyly.

Matt was suddenly rethinking his black button up and gray pants. The older man broke into a wide smile. “You look stunning Keith.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Now I’m not sure I’m worthy of your presence.”

Keith rolled his eyes and gave Matt a playful nudge. “Is this your attempt to seduce a goodnight kiss later? Because if I’m being honest, self-deprecation is kind of a mood killer for me. Besides, you uh,” Keith trailed off as his face slowly turned red. “You look nice too, nicer than me.”

“What was that you just said about self-deprecation?” Matt grinned widely before coming to his senses and jumping up to open the car door. “Besides that’s just not true but where are my manners!? Forgive me, kind sir.” Matt bowed deeply to a flustered Keith. “Your chariot awaits, my lord.”

The younger man didn’t move, he instead began babbling unintelligibly until Matt looked up. Keith had covered his face with his hands and was shaking his head. The brunette could see just how red the tips of his date’s ears had become and chuckled softly.

“Keith, I’m not trying to embarrass you. I was just trying to be a gentleman and open the door for you.”

Matt was rewarded with the sight of one dark indigo eye glaring at him from between slim fingers. “You’re a dick. I hope you know that.”

The older man laughed loudly. “Just get in the car before we miss our reservation,” Matt locked eyes with Keith and smirked, “my prince.”

“Argh!” Keith cried out as he stomped towards the car, arms flailing. “You are an insufferable monster, Matthew Holt!”

He chuckled as he watched the shorter man climb into the passenger seat. “Only for you, your highness.” 

“Shut up and drive,” Keith scowled at him in response. Matt closed the door and slipped into the driver's seat, his nerves from earlier had disappeared as soon as Keith had spoken to him and left in its place was giddy excitement. 

“As you wish.” 

* * *

They chatted amiably as they drove towards the restaurant, relaxing Matt even further. He parked and grabbed Keith’s hand before he could undo his seatbelt. “Wait, let me get the door for you.”

“Y-you really don’t have to, I’m not a girl you know,” Keith objected.

“You don’t have to be a girl to be treated well.” Matt smiled warmly at him. “Let me get the door for you, okay?”

Keith turned away with a nod and Matt couldn’t help but chuckle, his date was just too cute. He jumped out of the car and ran to open the passenger side door and when he did it revealed Keith’s bright red face and Matt smiled impossibly wide.

“You’re really cute, do you know that? I still can’t believe you like me.” Matt held out his hand to Keith. 

“Jury’s still out on that,” he replied cheekily as he took the older man’s hand. “Who knows what the verdict will be.” Keith shrugged as Matt pulled him out of the car and right into his chest, their hands still clasped between them and Matt’s free arm wrapped around his slim waist. 

“Well I suppose I’ll just have to hope for the best possible outcome.” 

Keith’s face was so close to his that Matt could clearly see the blush that slowly spread across his delicate features. He was so beautiful and Matt could practically feel his own heart pouding against his chest. The smaller man was watching Matt unblinkingly as he raised their clasped hands to his lips to gently kiss the pale fingers of his date. “I’d be really happy if you chose to stay by my side,” Matt whispered.

Matt smiled as Keith gasped at the soft kiss. “Let’s get inside, can’t have my gorgeous date standing outside all night.” He released his hold on Keith’s waist and walked hand in hand with him into the restaurant. 

“I would order wine like a real grown up if they wouldn’t card you,” Matt mumbled. “I should have thought this through. I just wanted to take you out to a nice restaurant. I knew I was going to mess this up.”

Keith reached across the table to squeeze Matt’s hand reassuringly. “It’s okay, I can order a virgin cocktail. That way I’m not just drinking water or soda like a little kid.” Keith looked around quickly. “This place is way fancier than any place I’ve ever eaten at. Why are there three forks, who needs three forks?”

Matt laughed, Keith had put him at ease once again and he was grateful for it. Dinner went by smoothly after that. Matt even gathered up the courage to hold Keith’s hand the entire time they ate dessert, which was a chocolate cake that he convinced Keith to share with him.

They were walking hand in hand back to the car when he heard Keith sigh beside him. “That dinner was so good, a guy could get used to that.” He smiled at Matt. “Although I’m not sure how willing I’d be to dress up like this again.” He motioned to his burgundy dress shirt, black vest covered in black lace roses, and black dress pants. 

“I, for one, think you look stunning. Not that you don’t look stunning all the time but I’m used to you looking more like a stressed out college kid. You clean up so nicely that I’m honestly kind of shocked,” Matt chuckled.

“You know this date was going well until you opened that smartass mouth of yours,” Keith said as he playfully punched the older man’s shoulder. “You just had to go and ruin it at the end huh?”

“Oh no,” Matt smirked as he opened the car door for Keith again. “Our date isn’t over just yet. I promised you romance did I not? Just you wait.”

“Now I’m nervous,” Keith laughed as he climbed into the car. “You’re not going to stick me in a whole somewhere and ask me to rub on some lotion are you?”

“Not on this date, no.” Matt grinned and wasted no time in scurrying to the driver’s side and slipping in. “Prepare to be wooed.”

* * *

  
“A drive-in? I didn’t think there were any that were still around.”

“Surprised?” Matt asked excitedly. 

“I actually am. So what movie did you pick?”

“Just you wait, my beautiful prince. You’re going to love it.” 

“Would you stop with that prince crap already!” Keith fumed as Matt cackled like some deranged hyena.

They parked in one of the various designated spots. The lot was mostly empty, only a handful of other cars were scattered about and none of them were near Matt’s car. Keith sat quietly in the passenger seat, waiting for Matt to return with some water and snacks. His heart was racing and his palms were sweaty. They were at a drive-in movie which Keith was excited about, never having been to one himself, but it also made him nervous.

They were parked in a lonely corner of the lot, far away from other cars and any prying eyes. Matt had been nothing but a gentleman with him all night but, Keith had seen teen romance movies, he knew what it meant to be alone in a parked car at night. Try as he might he just couldn’t relax, nervous about what Matt would expect from him. How could he tell his handsome date that he was a virgin? That his first kiss had been that night in Matt’s bedroom with Peter Gabriel playing softly in the background?

Keith buried his face in his hands. Matt was going to freak out and drive him home before the movie even ended. What if he never called him again? Keith couldn’t stand the thought of never speaking to Matt again but what if he expected to...go all the way tonight? Could Keith do that to please his date even if he wasn’t ready for that himself?

He suddenly remembered something Pidge had told him last year before he graduated, back when he liked Lance and had wanted to confess.

  
**...**

“He’s had like, three serious relationships Pidge! All of them with girls too!” Keith groaned as his forehead hit the cafeteria table.

“So? He says he’s bisexual, he’s very proud of that and reminds us of it every five seconds. He’s had crushes on guys, you know. They were just all straight guys.”

“But he hates me. What if I tell him how I feel and he just laughs at me?”

Pidge sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, she really had been spending too much time with Shiro at their place. “He won’t laugh at you. Lance takes that stuff seriously, he’s a huge romantic and would never laugh at anyone bearing their heart to him.” She scratched her head as she thought about something. “If he’s going to turn you down, he’ll do it gently.”

Keith just groaned louder. “That’s not helping.”

“What’s not helping?” A new, deeper voice chimed in. Keith shot up to see Hunk sitting across from him, lunch tray in hand. “Hey guys.”

Keith looked around nervously because wherever there was Hunk then Lance was sure to be close behind, but there seemed to be no sign of the loud brunette. “H-hey Hunk,” he muttered out as his face turned red. That earned a quizzical look tossed Pidge’s way. 

“He wants to confess to Lance,” she answered without hesitation.

“PIDGE!” Keith squeaked in shock. “What if he’s walking over now and heard you!?”

“Nah, he had to go to the library because he forgot to print out an essay for his English class and it’s due today,” Hunk said cheerfully. “I know he’s really into some guy right now. He won’t tell me who but it’s definitely a dude, so there is a chance it could be you. If that makes you feel better?”

Keith collapsed back onto the cafeteria table, narrowly missing his still full lunch tray. “It does not.”

“Hunk, please tell Keith that Lance is not heartless and will turn Keith down nicely IF he turns him down at all,” Pidge begged. “He’s driving me fucking crazy.”

The large Samoan teen smiled in Keith’s direction. “He’s really good about that actually. He knows it takes guts to tell someone you like them and he wouldn’t laugh at you for having the courage to confess.”

Keith sat up to face his two friends. “I...I’ve never dated anyone. I don’t have any experience, not like he does. Hell, I haven’t even been kissed. What if...what if he expects more from me. You know, what if he expects _it_ from me?”

Hunk was thinking of a way to respond when Pidge bluntly answered. “You mean what if he expects you to fuck? Look, honestly he might, at some point. Not at first but he definitely would eventually. Sorry to tell both of you, but he’s not a virgin. Don’t ask me how I know because I really do not want to relive that particular nightmare.

“If he does expect it from you before you’re ready then forget about him. If he isn’t willing to wait until you’re comfortable, then does he truly like you? He can’t force you to have sex and if he did then he’s a scumbag and you can do so much better.”

Keith’s face was bright red as he listened to his youngest friend speak so openly about sex. 

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT ABOUT HIM AND I DON’T?!” Hunk cried as Pidge growled at him to stop asking her.

Keith stared at his uneaten lunch, his two friends bickering in the background, as he thought over her words. Lance would wait for him if he really liked him? If he liked him at all. The worst that could happen was Lance saying that he’s not interested. Hunk had confirmed what Pidge had said and assured him that his confession would not be laughed at.

Maybe confessing wouldn’t be so scary after all.

  
**...**

The Korean man sighed. “I never told him how I felt but Pidge was right. If someone really likes you, they’ll wait,” he said out loud to no one. He turned to look out the window to see Matt approaching. He’d wait for Keith, right?

They were halfway through _Creature From The Black Lagoon_ when it happened. Matt casually draped an arm around Keith’s shoulders and felt him stiffen. He looked over in concern to see him staring intensely at the screen. 

“Keith, everything okay?”

He nodded tersely but refused to look at Matt. “You sure? Because you don’t seem okay.”

“M’fine,” Keith said quietly. 

He was definitely not fine. “Keith, look at me. Please?”

Finally the younger man turned to face him and Matt could see the panic in his eyes as it suddenly clicked.

“Keith, did you...do you think I brought you here to have sex?”

He didn’t answer but turned his reddening face away from Matt. “N-no,” he stuttered out and Matt couldn’t help but smile. Keith really was just too adorable.

“Listen to me, not that I wouldn’t love to ravish you, but I would definitely take you somewhere far more romantic then a drive-in in my crappy car. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, I just want you to enjoy tonight without any expectations. We have plenty of time for that, it won’t happen tonight, so stop worrying.”

Keith looked up at him with wide eyes. “You...you’d wait for me?”

Matt smiled. “Of course I would. You mean a lot to me, it’s kind of surprising how important you became in such a short amount of time but I’m willing to wait for you. As long as it takes.”

Matt didn’t have time to decipher the look on Keith’s face before the smaller man pressed his lips to his. The brunette wasted no time in wrapping an arm around Keith and hauling him over the center console so that he could sit comfortably in Matt’s lap. Whoever invented bucket seats should rot in hell, he thought as he pulled the younger man over.

Keith’s hands were warm as they rested on Matt’s neck before tangling in his shaggy hair. His slim body pressed against his and Matt bit back a moan as he wrapped his arms tightly around him. Keith’s waist was so small, and his body fit so perfectly into his that it was driving Matt crazy. 

When the smaller man sighed Matt took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into his mouth. Keith moaned and his hands tightened in sandy brown hair. Matt silently cursed the formal clothes his date was wearing, he looked amazing in them yes, but his shirt was not easy to lift up to feel his skin. When he finally wrested Keith’s shirt free from where it was tucked into his pants he immediately slipped his hands underneath it. Keith gasped and arched his back, breaking their kiss as he did so. 

Matt could feel the shivers run through his smaller frame as his hands ran up the smooth skin of Keith’s back. The younger man leaned back, revealing his neck, as he let out soft sighs and the brunette used that chance to place kisses along his pale neck. 

“M-Matt,” Keith whimpered, making the taller man chuckle. “W-wait, please I...c-can’t.”

“Don’t worry,” Matt whispered as he pulled back to look at Keith’s red face. “I won’t go any further. Tell me what you want to do.” His hands ran soothingly up and down Keith’s sides.

“I want to...g-go slow but, can we k-keep kissing?” He asked quietly.

The brunette smiled softly. “Of course.” He leaned up and kissed Keith gently. His hands stilled and his thumbs rubbed small circles on Keith’s lower back. 

Keith sighed into the kiss and his fingers loosely carded through Matt’s hair. The shivering soon stopped as he relaxed into Matt’s arms. The brunette chuckled against full lips, causing Keith to pull back. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re just so cute. You were so worried earlier almost like,” Matt paused and something popped into his head. “Keith?”

“Y-yeah?” His dark eyes were focused on the roof of the car now, almost as if he knew what Matt was about to say. 

“Are you...are you a virgin?”

“I don’t see how that is an appropriate first date conversation!” he squeaked as he buried his face in Matt’s neck. 

The older man started laughing, earning him a punch to the gut as Keith scrambled off of him and back into the passenger seat.

“Oh c’mon Keith, don’t be like that,” he wheezed as he rubbed his sore stomach. “There isn’t anything wrong with that! It’s actually kind of sweet and it also makes me happy. Deliriously happy, actually.”

Keith turned to him sharply. “Happy? How does me being a virgin make you happy?”

“It makes me happy because,” Matt leaned towards him, Keith’s face was still red but he wasn’t turning away this time. “If things go well between us, I could possibly be the one to change that and just the thought that I would be the first to touch you makes me so fucking happy.”

Keith looked away now. “You’re so weird. Pervert,” he huffed. 

Matt reached over to turn Keith’s face towards him. “Hey, I meant what I said about waiting for you. We can go as slow as you want, I just want to be by your side. If you’ll let me.”

Keith nodded and leaned in to kiss the older man tenderly. When they pulled apart Matt looked over to see the credits of the movie on the screen. “I suppose I should get you home before Shiro comes looking for you.”

“Wait,” Keith said as he took Matt’s face in his hands. “Just, o-one more.” He leaned forward as he spoke and gently pressed his lips to Matt’s. “Okay, now we can leave.”

Matt groaned and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. “You’re gonna be the death of me. That was so cute, I can’t handle it.”

Keith had the audacity to giggle and it sent another arrow straight through Matt’s heart. “C’mon let’s go, Shiro will be out for blood soon.”

He was answered with another strangled groan from the older man. “I can’t. I think your giggling was the final nail in the coffin. You’ve killed me. I am so sorry to make you a widower at the tender age of nineteen.”

“Quit talking like we’re married,” Keith chuckled. “Do I need to drive us back myself?” He rolled his eyes but the smile on his face revealed his amusement.

Matt shot up and gripped the steering wheel tightly. “No, I’ve been miraculously healed and I shall drive my beloved prince home. I will treat you with the respect you deserve.”

“I said to stop with all that prince bullshit!” Keith yelled as Matt started the car.

“I will not,” he snickered. 

Keith let out a frustrated yell as Matt laughed.

“Please let me at least walk you to the door of the building?” Matt begged.

“Okay, okay, walk me to the door. Just stop looking at me like that, I feel like I’ve just kicked a puppy.”

Matt grinned gleefully and jumped out of the car and ran to open Keith’s door and extended a hand out to him. Keith rolled his eyes but placed his slim hand into Matt’s larger one. “You can’t keep this up all the time you know. This whole chivalrous act.”

“Oho, is that a challenge? First of all, it isn’t an act. I’m always this courteous, and second, challenge accepted. I will never stop treating you like royalty, for the entirety of our relationship.”

“You’re insane, I’m dating a crazy person,” Keith sighed as Matt helped him out of the car.

“Insanity is the spice of life.” Matt shrugged. “Plus it keeps things interesting.” He waggled his eyebrows at Keith. 

They walked hand in hand to the entrance of the apartment building. Keith leaned against the door as he looked up at Matt. “So, this is me. Thank you for the date, I had a really nice time. Surprisingly.”

“Hey, I know I make a lot of jokes but I am absolutely serious when it comes to romance.” He smiled down at his petite date. “I’m happy that you had a nice time because I am feeling over the moon right now.”

Keith smiled at him, the night sky reflected beautifully in his indigo eyes. “Me too,” he whispered. “I think this perfect date warrants a perfect ending.”

“Oh?” Matt cocked a brow as he stepped closer to Keith. “What kind of ending did you have in mind?”

“Get over here, Casanova.” Keith reached out to grab the collar of Matt’s dress shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.

Matt’s hands immediately found their place on Keith’s waist as he pulled the younger man closer. The kiss was short and chaste but Matt didn’t mind. Any kiss with Keith was incredible and always left him wanting more. He reluctantly pulled back and kissed his date’s cheek. “You should probably head inside before I lose control.”

Keith blushed and pecked his lips. “Goodnight. You’ll call me right?”

“Of course, I have no intention of letting you get away. Goodnight Keith.”

“Goodnight Matt,” he replied with a small wave before hurrying into his apartment building. Matt stood outside and watched Keith disappear into the elevator before heading back to his car.

Matt called him as soon as he got home. They spent a few hours talking on the phone until Keith’s yawning became too constant to ignore. Matt, of course, called Keith the next day and the day after that and the day after that. It continued for an entire month, he called on days they didn’t have a date, he called on nights after a date, he called after Keith’s last class, he called on weekends and Keith never seemed to mind it, not once.

* * *

The brunette could barely concentrate on his professor, today was the three month anniversary of his first date with Keith and he was meeting him after this class for a coffee. He had planned on asking Keith to be his boyfriend today and he hoped that the gorgeous freshman would say yes.

When the professor ended the class Matt sprinted out of the classroom and ran to the campus coffee shop. As he approached he saw Keith standing outside, his eyes trained on the phone in his hand and black messenger bag slung over his shoulder. The brunette paused his mad dash to stare at the beautiful boy waiting for him. 

He had his black hair pulled into a messy ponytail, a few dark strands hanging loose around his neck and on the hood of his plum colored sweater. His glasses were perched on his cute little nose and his black skinny jeans were rolled up at the bottom to reveal a pair of galaxy print Converse high tops. 

Matt could feel his heart swell with fondness, everything about Keith made him feel too much, too full like he’d burst at any second. He had never felt this way about anyone before, no one had ever made him feel like this is where he was meant to be. Keith just made everything feel right, his choice in majors, his studies, and hell, Keith even made living at home with his parents and sister feel right as long as he had this beautiful boy by his side. 

The brunette crept quietly towards his, hopefully, soon-to-be boyfriend. He was careful not to alert the other to his presence. Once he was close enough, Matt wrapped his arms around Keith’s thin waist. “Hey there, beautiful. Been waiting long?”

The tiny freshman jumped slightly before turning his head a bit to look over his shoulder. “I’m meeting someone here, I don’t think he’d like it if he saw you holding me like this,” he smirked.

“You cheeky little…” he was interrupted by the call of his name and the two men turned to see Rolo and Nyma headed their way. 

“Oh, hey guys,” Matt greeted them cheerfully while Keith gave them a shy smile and a quiet hello.

“Keith!” Nyma squealed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a tight hug. “Gosh! You are just too adorable! Why do you even bother with stinky Matt? You should just let me steal you away.”

Rolo and Matt stood there watching them with looks that could only be described as tired surprise on their faces. “B-babe, Matt and I are right here.”

She looked at her boyfriend with a bored expression. “So? Keith is way cuter than the both of you and I demand a date with him.”

Keith let out a shocked squeak. “D-date?!” He started to squirm in her arms, desperate to break free but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Yes! We’ll get coffee, go shopping, and get our hair done. These two idiots will lay prostrate at our feet once they see how far out of their league we are.”

“Pretty sure Keith has Matt wrapped around his little finger already, sweetheart,” Rolo chuckled as he nudged a nervous Matt. “He knows he lucked out with Keith.”

Keith turned bright red and hid his face in Nyma’s neck which only made her coo about how cute he is even more. “Seriously though Keith,” her voice suddenly changed into a more serious tone. “Let’s hang out, it’ll be like a friend date. We can pamper ourselves while the boys sit around missing us.”

One dark eye peeked up at her. “Friend...date? You, you want to be my friend?” He asked softly.

Nyma blushed and it was all the blonde could do not to squeal. “Of course! You’re dating our beloved Matt, why wouldn’t I want to get to know you?”

Keith finally managed to slip out of her grip as he nodded. “Okay, sure. I’ll uh, let you pick the day to hang out.”

She clapped her hands excitedly and Matt reached for Keith’s hand and pulled him close, he was uncharacteristically quiet. Nyma asked for Keith’s number and he timidly gave it to her. The tall couple spoke to Matt and Keith for a bit before saying their goodbyes, they were meeting Nyma’s parents for lunch and didn’t want to be late.

Once they were alone Matt sighed loudly and pulled Keith into his arms. “I didn’t like watching her hold you so tight,” he whispered into the dark haired man’s ear.

“Jealous?” Keith chuckled.

“Very,” Matt replied with a small kiss to Keith’s neck. “Let’s get our coffee and find a place to sit.”

Keith nodded in agreement and they found themselves seated on a bench underneath some trees about twenty minutes later. Matt sipped on his latte as he glanced over at Keith. His dark eyes were focused on the book in his lap as he mindlessly tapped on his cup of tea. 

“May I hold your hand?” Matt suddenly blurted out. Keith’s head shot up to look at him in surprise. The brunette watched as his pale cheeks slowly turned rosy. 

“W-why are you a-asking like that?” He stuttered out as he looked away quickly. 

“Is that a no?”

“It’s not a no.” He was still refusing to look at Matt, so the brunette tried again.

“So it’s a yes?”

Keith growled and slipped his hand into Matt’s. Hazel eyes glanced down, marveling at how perfectly their hands fit together. Almost as though they were made to be. Matt lifted their clasped hands and brought it to his lips to press a gentle kiss to the back of Keith’s hand. Well that got the petite man’s attention quickly. Indigo eyes zeroed in on Matt, attempting to glare at him despite the flush of his cheeks.

“Keith,” he started slowly. “We’ve been seeing each other for about three months now and I just wanted you to know that this is the longest relationship I’ve ever been in. I really like you, I like you so much that some days it feels like it could crush me. I’m also pretty sure that you return my feelings, at least I hope you do, and so there is something I wanted to ask you.”

Dark eyes never wavered from Matt’s face and he remained silent but he gave Matt’s hand a squeeze, encouraging him to continue. 

“I wanted to make this official and ask if you would be my boyfriend?”

The shorter man looked away from him and Matt felt his heart sink. A few minutes passed by slowly, painfully so, as they sat there in stifling silence before Keith finally spoke.

“Matt, you’re the first person I’ve ever dated and I like you too, maybe a little too much, and even though I’m scared and anxious I want to take this next step with you.” He finally turned back to face his partner, pink cheeks and all and smiled sweetly at him. “I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

The brunette mirrored his shy smile with a joyous one. “What a relief! I thought you were going to say no.”

Keith laughed. “Why would I do that? You’re...important to me, Matt.”

Overjoyed at those words Matt leaned in to kiss his boyfriend. “Gotta seal the deal,” he whispered as he pulled back.

“I hope you know that this means you’re mine, Holt.” Keith snaked a small and pale hand around to the back of Matt’s hair, tangling his finger in the shaggy strands.

“I literally do not want it to be any other way,” he hummed as he pressed his lips to Keith’s again.

They spent about an hour sitting on that bench, hands clasped, and chatting happily. Matt sighed, he didn’t want this to end but he had to go. “Ugh signing up to be a teacher’s assistant this semester was a huge mistake. If I had known I was going to have such an impossibly cute boyfriend I never would have.”

Keith giggled. “Goooo, you don’t want the professor to get upset.” He leaned over and kissed the taller man’s cheek. “If I had known that I’d end up calling the sexiest TA at this school my boyfriend, I would’ve failed from skipping all my classes just to go sit in yours.”

“You still have time,” Matt laughed as he reached out to cup Keith’s face in his hands. “Finals are in two weeks, you still have time to fail all your classes and come see me,” he teased.

“Get out of here, dork.” Keith nudged his tall boyfriend until Matt got off of the bench. “We both know you like your men smart.”

Matt stood in front of Keith and leaned over him, his hands gripping the back of the bench, trapping the freshman between them. “I like my men not only smart, but unbelievably gorgeous. With skin like ivory, dark hair, and eyes that remind me of galaxies.” He leaned in close, his lips ghosting over his precious boyfriend’s. “I like my men named Keith Kogane, with a protective older brother, and the most kissable lips you can imagine.”

“Wow, he sounds incredible,” Keith whispered. His beautiful eyes were already slipping closed as he leaned forward.

“You have no idea,” Matt said, his voice low, taking note of the shiver it sent through Keith’s body.

“Maybe, you should make him yours.”

Matt smiled slyly. “I’ve already claimed him.” He finally pressed his lips to Keith’s and kissed him deeply for a minute or two before pulling away. “I gotta get going. Try not to miss me too much.” He took one of Keith’s hands in his and kissed the back of it. “What are you going to do now? You’re done with classes today.”

“I was, uhhh,” Keith was bright red and he seemed to be having trouble focusing on their conversation. Matt snickered, he knew what kisses like that did to Keith and he made sure to use them frequently. “I was, g-going to go home. Yeah, that’s right.”

Matt hauled him up to his feet. “Get home safely, okay? Text me when you get there.” He kissed Keith’s red cheek and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“I will,” Keith replied softly. “Call me later?”

“Always.” Matt grinned before heading in the direction of his class. He hated leaving Keith but he had responsibilities and he knew that his boyfriend would hate it if he was the cause of Matt shirking his duties.

Boyfriend.

Matt grinned goofily. Things were finally starting to look up for him.

* * *

Keith said a quick goodbye to Shiro before running out the door. He was late and Nyma had already been waiting for twenty minutes. When he burst out of the apartment building he saw the blonde happily waving from her sage mini cooper. He jogged over and climbed into the passenger seat.

“I am so sorry! I overslept. Your call to tell me that you were here is what woke me up.”

“No worries, let’s get going.”

Keith sat nervously in the passenger seat as Nyma drove and sang along to cringeworthy pop songs. As they neared the mall she finally addressed him. 

“You don’t have to be nervous, Keith. I’m not going to grill you or threaten to hurt you if you hurt Matt, I’ll leave that up to Pidge. I really do just want to get to know you and hang out. Matt’s a good guy and his relationships have never really worked out so I’ve never bothered myself with getting to know his partners.” 

She effortlessly parked and turned to look at him. “You’re really precious to Matt, I can see that and you’re his longest relationship. So I feel like I owed it to him to actually get to know you since we will be seeing a lot of each other the longer you’re together. So you have nothing to fear from me.” Nyma smiled sweetly at him and Keith couldn’t help but continue to feel nervous. 

“O-okay.”

The blonde sighed and started to get out of the car. “You’ll believe me once we start hanging out and you see that I’m not planning on interrogating you.”

Keith actually did relax once they had spent about an hour together. Nyma was intent on dressing him up though, which caused him a bit of anxiety, but she had really good taste and Keith had never felt more attractive.

“Matt will literally faint when he sees you in this,” Nyma snickered as she eyed Keith’s outfit in front of the dressing room mirror. “You look so good in red Keefers, I can never pull off that color and I have SO many ideas for it.”

Keith’s reflection glared at her. “Keefers?”

She giggled. “That’ll be my pet name for you. Isn’t it cute?”

“No, it’s not. Please don’t call me that.”

“Too late,” she said as she held up a black v-neck shirt and denim trucker jacket in front of him. “We’ve bonded and your nickname is proof of this.”

“Well, then I’m going to call you,” Keith trailed off as he wracked his brain trying to come with something as equally embarrassing as Keefers.

Nyma watched him with an amused smile on her face as she grabbed the clothes that she liked best for him. “Need some help, hon?”

Keith pouted adorably as he failed to come up with anything. His pride was at stake and his mind was blank. “N-no, I got this...b-blondie.” _Wow,_ he thought sullenly. _Blondie, very original Keith._

His companion merely laughed. “Like I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled before walking back into the changing room stall to put his own clothes on. When he stepped back out he found Nyma at the register with a mountain of clothes. There was no way he could afford all of that so he hurried over and grabbed Nyma’s arm.

“H-hey, all this is a bit out of my budget.”

“Relax Keefers,” She pulled out her credit card. “It’s on me.”

“N-no way! I can’t let you do that!” he sputtered. “Nyma, this is a lot.”

“Keith,” She leaned in close to whisper in his ear and it was then that Keith noticed that they were the same height. “Relax, my family has a lot of money. Let me buy this stuff for you. Of course it’s a one time deal, just to celebrate our new friendship. Okay?”

Keith nodded numbly when she pulled away. While the cashier was ringing them up she looked over at Keith with a thoughtful expression. “Keefers, how tall are you?”

“I’m 5’10’, why?”

“So am I!” she laughed. “No reason, I just noticed it now. Good thing our boyfriends are tall!” Nyma turned back to the cashier to pay before thanking her and helping Keith grab the bags. 

“Come along Keefers, we’ve only just begun to shop!”

Keith had never once spent an entire day at the mall before. He usually bought everything online so as not to aggravate his social anxiety and yet here he was, with Nyma spending his whole day at the mall. He was thoroughly exhausted when she finally said that they were done.

“Let’s get something to eat,” she declared. Nyma took hold of his wrist and started dragging him towards her car. “I know a great place that’s not too far from here!”

“You know, I’m starting to regret agreeing to this whole thing,” Keith smirked and she turned to him with a sly smile. 

“Liar. I know you’re having a good time and you got some killer outfits. If I wasn’t madly in love with Rolo I would try to seduce you away from Matt, that’s how good you look in those clothes. I would ruin my friendship with him for you.”

Keith snorted. “Just a head’s up, you’d fail. Rolo would have a better chance.”

She stopped and studied his face long enough that Keith began to wonder if he had offended her before she laughed suddenly. “So you’re only into guys, message received! I should’ve known when you agreed to come shopping with me.”

“H-hey! Not all gay men love shopping!” Keith protested.

“You definitely do not, so I suppose you’re right,” she chuckled all the way to her car. They placed all their purchases in the trunk before setting out for their next destination. Keith had not realized just how hungry he was until he sat down in Nyma’s car. Luckily the restaurant was nearby and it didn’t take long to get there.

They decided to sit at a high top table in the bar section because the wait for a regular table was far too long and the two of them were ravenous. Nyma ordered a cosmo as soon as their server approached, Keith just asked for water. The two of them were chatting when Keith excused himself to use the bathroom.

He stared critically at his reflection as he washed his hands. His thoughts drifted to Matt, as they always did. Would Matt really find him attractive in the clothes Nyma bought for him? He couldn’t help but hope that he did. Matt had asked him to be his boyfriend two weeks ago and Keith still couldn’t believe it. 

He, Keith Kogane, had a boyfriend. A very real and very handsome boyfriend that actually wanted to be with him. His pale cheeks turned red as he thought about how lucky he was. Matt was smart, hot, kind, and seemed to genuinely like Keith for who he was, which was something he didn’t think would ever happen.

Keith was so happy that he almost felt guilty about it. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to feel this way or if he deserved to be at all. He shook his head as he dried his hands. He knew he had to stop thinking like that, those kinds of thoughts never led anywhere and only succeeded in depressing him. He and Nyma were having a nice day and the last thing he wanted was to ruin it. 

That’s right, he was with Nyma today. He hurried out of the bathroom, realizing that he had left her alone for too long. She must’ve thought that he climbed out the window like it was a bad date. As he neared their table he saw a tall man looming menacingly over her. She looked displeased as she tried to move away from him. Without a thought of what he was going to do, Keith confidently walked over to them. As he drew closer he could hear a part of their conversation.

“I said that I’m not interested. I have a boyfriend so please leave.” The irritation was clear in her voice.

“Don’t be that way beautiful, let me buy you a drink.”

Keith was right behind the man now, he was much taller but that didn’t matter. Keith knew how to handle himself in a fight. “I believe she said leave, so buzz off asshole.”

The man turned around to face him now. “Who’re you? Her boyfriend?”

The shorter man smirked. “Matter of fact, I am. So beat it before I kick your ass.”

The stranger moved closer to him.”Well, well, well, ain’t you all kinds of pretty?”

That threw him off and Keith flinched a bit as Nyma’s eyes widened. “W-what?”

Brown eyes blatantly scanned his form, moving slowly up and down his body with a lecherous gleam. “I usually prefer women but I’ve made exceptions before, and you’re prettier than most girls.” He took a step closer causing Keith to back up. “So how about the three of us get out of here?”

Keith regained his composure and glared at him. “No thanks, neither one of us is interested.” He sidestepped the tall man and threw some money on the table for the drink Nyma had before he took her hand. “Let’s go baby, this place is full of trash.” He started to lead her away when the man reached out and grabbed his free hand.

“Who’re you calling trash?”

Keith wrenched his hand out of the other man’s grip. “You. You’re trash and this is your last warning to back off. I won’t be so nice next time.” Keith pulled Nyma out of the bar and to her car. Once they were in she began to apologize, her voice shaky.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to apologize for scum like that. Let’s just find somewhere else to eat.” He smiled at Nyma, hoping it would calm her down.

“O-okay. There’s a Mexican place that's pretty good.” 

* * *

“I am so sorry Keith!” Nyma was nearly in tears after her third margarita. “That place really does have good food! If it weren’t for that jerk we could’ve eaten there! We’ll go back, I promise but we’ll bring Rolo and Matt. Guys are usually deterred when they see Rolo,” she chuckled wetly. “I guess being a six foot five boxer has that effect on people.”

Keith’s eyes widened, he knew Rolo was tall but 6’5”!? That was enormous. “Nyma, don’t worry about it. Seriously. We’ll go back, like you said. It’ll be a double date.” He tried to surreptitiously pull her half full glass of margarita away to encourage her to drink some water. “I had a craving for tacos anyway, so I don’t mind.”

“You’re so sweet Keith. You really are, Matt’s really lucky.” She pulled her margarita glass back and polished off the contents before ordering a fourth. “Seriously, I am so happy that he met you. His dating life has really sucked, of course I didn’t help it. I broke up with him after a week and a half after all.”

Dark eyes blinked in confusion as his pale hand paused in its mission to push Nyma’s water glass towards her. “You,” he said slowly, perhaps he heard wrong, he had to have heard wrong. “Y-you dated Matt?”

“Yeah, our freshman year. We were both nineteen, he was nerdy but cute and I had broken up with my high school boyfriend a few months before, right after graduation. We were attending different universities, but that’s a different story, and I met Matt in our statistics class. He asked me out on day three so I thought why not?”

The server delivered her margarita and Nyma took a sip before continuing. “We went out for a week and a half but honestly it was all about sex. When I ended it he was bummed but didn’t seem particularly upset by it. We were just not a good match but we stayed friends. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, I guess the lack of romantic feelings made it easy to stay friends after breaking up. A month later Matt introduced me to Rolo and here we are.”

Keith was staring down at the table. Nyma and Matt dated? Matt dated Nyma and the two of them were still friends? She said there weren’t any romantic feelings involved but Keith couldn’t help but worry. What if his boyfriend decided to end things because it turned out he’d been in love with Nyma the entire time?

He shook his head, no he couldn’t think about that. Matt cared about him and asked him to be his boyfriend. People wouldn’t do that unless they were serious about the other person. One thing really bothered him though, why hadn’t Matt told him about this? Was he embarrassed about having dated her? Did he not want to upset Keith? Or did he have some lingering feelings for her and didn’t want to tell Keith about it lest it cause problems? Keith’s mind was racing, one minute it was convincing him that Matt was going to leave him for Nyma and the next it was trying to reassure him that Matt wanted to be with him and not her.

“Keith?” Nyma’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “You okay? If it’s about me and Matt, I’m serious when I say that we are just friends. Don’t overthink this.”

He nodded numbly in response and tried to distract himself with her drunken conversation. By the time they finished dinner she was completely wasted and he had to carry her to the car. She cooed about how strong he was and how much of a shame it was that he was short. Keith tried not to take it personally as he laid her in the backseat before climbing into the driver’s seat to call Matt.

“Hey, gorgeous. What’s up? Did you and Nyma have a fun day?”

“Hey Matt,” Keith glanced in the rearview to check on the drunk girl before answering. “I’m still with her. She drank a little too much. I was hoping you and Rolo could meet us somewhere? That way he can drive her car and I can get a ride home from you? If that’s okay?”

“Yeah of course. Rolo and I are together actually, I picked him up to hang out. We’re at the park by my house.”

“The park?” Keith could not picture the two of them enjoying a stroll through the park.

“Basketball,” was all Matt said.

“Ah, that makes sense. Okay I’ll see you soon.” 

Once he got the directions from Matt he hung up and drove carefully to the park, trying not to jostle the drunk Nyma. 

Matt and Rolo were walking towards the car as he parked. He got out and Rolo chuckled as he greeted him. He peered into the backseat to see his drunk girlfriend passed out. “Let me guess, margaritas?”

“Y-yeah,” Keith blinked. “Good guess.”

“Nah, I just know her,” he smiled fondly at her before turning back to the other two men. “Thanks for taking care of her Keith and I’m sorry that she got so wasted in the first place. I’ll get her home safe.” 

Once they loaded Keith’s bags into Matt’s car they said their goodbyes and when they were finally alone, Matt reached for Keith’s hand but he pulled away and headed for the passenger side. 

“I need to get home, I gotta work on a paper,” he said coldly.

Matt just nodded and got into his car. Once he started driving he addressed Keith.

“So are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Keith debated on whether or not to tell him and the only thing that flashed through his mind were all the fights he had with Shiro that could’ve been avoided had they just spoken to each other. He turned to look out the window and in a soft voice he asked, “why didn’t you tell me that you and Nyma dated?”

Matt sighed loudly. “So she told you about that? Keith, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you or anything. I didn’t tell you because it was such an insignificant relationship, the only good thing to come out of it was a good friend.”

“Still, why didn’t you tell me? You guys are close and what if,”

“Let me stop you right there. Whatever it is you’re about to say is wrong. Nyma and I are not romantically interested in each other. Did she tell you it was just about sex between us? We didn’t even make it to two weeks. We weren’t compatible and that’s okay.

“I met Rolo in another class that same semester and as I got to know him I realized that he and Nyma were perfect for each other so I introduced them. Now they’ve been together for 3 years. She is just a good friend and that’s all it’ll ever be.” They were stopped at a red light and Matt turned to him and took his hand.

“I want you, Keith. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, you’re so precious to me and I’m sorry to have made you doubt that. I should have told you that Nyma and I used to date, it was such a short lived romance and it was so long ago that I didn’t even think it was important but that’s not an excuse. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

Keith blinked at him. He looked so sincere and Keith knew he’d forgive him, still, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t torture him for a bit. “The light’s green,” he said as he pulled his hand out of Matt’s. The brunette seemed pained for a second but then he smirked at Keith and continued driving.

They were finally parked outside of Keith’s apartment building and Matt was helping to get his bags out of the trunk when Matt asked to walk him to the door. He carried his short boyfriend’s bags to the door and set them down before he smiled down at Keith. 

“What?” Keith asked irritably.

“You forgave me at that red light, didn’t you?”

Keith laughed and Matt stepped closer to him. “I’m going to have to break up with you. You’re too perceptive, I can’t even make you suffer to earn my forgiveness,” the freshman sighed.

Matt leaned down and pulled Keith close. He nuzzled happily into the younger man’s neck. “You’re so amazing, how could I want anyone but you?”

The smaller man held him tightly and they stayed like that for a few minutes before Keith pulled away. “I really do need to work on a paper. I’ll call you tomorrow okay? We can go catch a movie or something.”

“Sounds good, oh and before I forget,” Matt said as he pulled Keith into him again and pressed their lips together. Keith’s body fit perfectly against Matt’s and the Korean man couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be intimate with him. Was he even ready for that?

Before he could figure it out Matt released Keith and he just blinked up at him. The taller man just snickered and opened the door to the building. “Go, you have a paper to write.”

Keith nodded and gathered his bags before heading up to his apartment. He didn’t even bother with the elevator and just charged up the stairs. The effort it took to climb up seven flights of stairs completely erased his thoughts of going all the way with Matt. He could think about that later, right now he had a paper to write.

* * *

“Keeeeeeeith,” his boyfriend whined. “C’mooooon, please come with meeeee!”

Keith shifted the phone to his other ear. “I don’t know Matt, isn’t it a family thing?” He grabbed a dark pair of jeans and wiggled into them while holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder.

“It’s not, well not really. I mean my folks will be there but it’s some award thing for Pidge at the high school. It’s gonna suck, but at least if I have you there,”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Keith interrupted with a laugh. “This is a family event, I’ll be at the school when it’s over so you and I can get dinner. I will see you afterwards, I promise.”

“But this would’ve been a great night to introduce you to my parents.”

“Your parents have already met me, I was Pidge’s friend first.”

“Yeah but they haven’t met you as my boyfriend.”

“Matt, I’m not going. End of discussion.”

The brunette sighed. “Fine, but I’m going to introduce you as my boyfriend to my parents when we get out, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” Keith smiled, his boyfriend could be such a little kid sometimes.

“See you later, beautiful.”

They hung up and Keith grabbed a shirt before he stopped to look at himself in the mirror. His skin was so pale and he wondered if Matt would laugh at him for his ghostly complexion. He scanned his slim but toned frame with a critical eye. Maybe he should go to the beach and try to tan.

He wrapped his arms around himself as he stared into the mirror. Would Matt still find him attractive once Keith was disrobed bare before the other man? Keith still hadn’t even figured out if he was ready to be intimate with Matt. He had thought about it but he still hadn’t come to a decision. 

Matt meant so much to him and he didn’t want to rush anything but he didn’t want to lose the brunette either. He sighed and pulled his shirt over his head and looked back at his reflection. His dark hair was slightly ruffled so he reached up to smooth it down. He decided that the best thing to do would be to just talk to Matt. He knew the decision on whether or not he was ready would ultimately be his but it couldn’t hurt to talk to the other party that would be involved. He sighed again and tore himself away from the mirror before he headed into the living room where Shiro and Allura were currently canoodling on the couch.

“Hey do we have any bleach? I need to wash out my eyes after what I just witnessed,” Keith asked in a flat voice.

Allura and Shiro flew apart like shrapnel and looked in his direction with embarrassed expressions. “H-hey Keith,” Shiro said. “How’s it going?”

“It’s all good, I guess.” He turned to the silvery haired goddess beside his dorky brother. “Hey Allura.”

“Hello Keith, how are you?” Allura asked with a bright smile.

“I’m alright. Do you and my brother have any plans for tonight?”

She turned around on the couch to face him. “Yes, we were going to go to the movies in a bit and follow it up with dinner. Care to join us?” 

“No it’s alright, you two go enjoy yourselves. I have plans later.”

“What plans? You didn’t tell me that you had plans?” Shiro asked.

“I’m telling you now. I have plans, I’m hanging out with Matt and Pidge. She won some science thing at school and she’s getting an award tonight so I’m meeting up with her and Matt afterwards.”

His older brother eyed him suspiciously. “You hang out with Matt a lot these days.”

“And the others,” Keith said, staring his older brother down. “What does it matter? We get along well and we’re friends.” He still hadn’t told Shiro about his relationship with the other man. He could tell that it bothered Matt but the older man never pushed him to come clean about it. He wasn’t sure why he was hesitating. They were brothers and Shiro loved him and he knew that his brother would be supportive of them but he also knew that Shiro knew Matt’s dating history. Shiro had made it clear that Keith would just become another notch on Matt’s bedpost if they got involved but it wasn’t like that at all. He and Matt really cared for each other, he wasn’t just another conquest.

So why couldn’t he tell Shiro that? 

Allura seemed to pick up on the tense air between the brothers and cleared her throat. “It’s great that you two get along. When I first met Shiro and Matt I remember thinking that they were both wonderful people. He and Shiro always seemed to be joined at the hip,” she chuckled. “I remember trying to get your brother to get a coffee with me only for him to show up with Matt and some silly story about how they ran into each other on the way there.”

“I-I was nervous!” Shiro squawked. “I wasn’t sure that I was good enough for you and I still don’t think that I am.”

“Oh please, you were just intimidated by my looks which is quite alright because I was intimidated by yours.” Allura smiled and squeezed Shiro’s knee.

“M-mine?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Keith cried out in exasperation. “Shiro, I’ve always told you that you are crazy hot. I mean you are so handsome that it’s really unfair and now you’ve found the one person who is just as hot as you. You two complement each other and not just in the looks department but in personality. You blend well and I always thought you two were perfect for each other.”

Shiro and Allura were both bright red and smiling shyly at one another. Keith could almost see the adoration in their eyes as they looked at each other. He wondered if that’s how he and Matt looked and somehow he just knew that they did. Could other people see it as clearly as he could see it in Shiro and Allura? 

Were he and Matt as meant to be as they were? He hoped so because he was absolutely crazy about Matt. He had had crushes before but nothing had ever come from them and now he’s met someone who makes him feel special, makes him feel like he’s worth something, and not a burden. Matt makes him feel loved in a way Shiro never has and it wasn’t that Shiro didn’t make him feel loved, but his love was familial. 

Matt’s love was...all encompassing. Neither one of them had said the word love yet but Keith knew it was true and Matt's love made Keith feel things in a way that he never thought he ever would. It was warm, genuine, and kind. He was pretty sure that he was spoiled by it and he was afraid of what would happen to him if it was gone. 

“Keith?” 

Said man jumped as his brother put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I am. Sorry, I just zoned out for a sec.” Keith checked his phone and tucked it into his back pocket. “So I have to get going. They’re almost done and I promised to meet them outside of the high school.”

“We should probably get going too,” Allura said as she stood up from the couch.

“Need a ride?” His brother asked him.

“I have a ride.” Keith rolled his eyes, anticipating the next words out of the older man’s mouth.

“You have a death trap.”

“You act like it wasn’t yours first. I’ll be fine Shiro. Go spend time with your girlfriend. You guys don’t get enough time alone as it is. I’ll see you later.”

Keith straddled his motorcycle and watched his brother and Allura drive off to their date with a small smile on his face before he left. He parked out in front of his old high school and pulled out his phone to check the time and he saw a missed call from his boyfriend. It was probably Matt calling to make sure that he was still coming. He chuckled and called the older man back.

“Hey,” Matt’s breathless voice answered.

“Hey,” Keith chuckled. “Everything okay? You sound like you just ran a marathon.”

“Yeah, no I…”

“MATTIEEEEE!” A familiar voice suddenly shouted from the background. “Coooooome back!”

Keith felt his body run cold. He recognized that voice immediately. “N-Nyma came to the award ceremony?” he asked desperately hoping that he wasn’t wrong but knowing deep inside that he was.

“I’m, uh, I’m not at the ceremony. I left earlier, that’s why I called. Nyma and Rolo had a fight, a bad one and she’s a mess right now and she called me. She’s not doing well right now and I’m the one who set them up in the first place and she’s a close friend so I told her I’d swing by her apartment to check on her.”

Keith was quiet, his heart was sinking and he wasn’t sure what to think other than _My boyfriend is at the apartment of his ex-girlfriend._

“So I’m having a hard time keeping her from drinking an entire liquor store’s worth of vodka. Anyway I hope you haven’t left yet, I have to cancel our date tonight. I’m so sorry Keith. I’ll call you tomorrow and make it up to you.”

“N-no, I’m not there. I haven’t left the apartment, I was just about to, so it’s a good thing I called back.” Dark eyes turned at the sound of people. They were starting to exit the building and he decided to end the call before Pidge and her parents saw him. 

“I’ll uh, talk to you tomorrow Matt. I hope Nyma is okay.”

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow. I am so sorry sweetheart, have a goodnight.”

“Yeah, goodnight. Talk to you tomorrow.” Keith hung up and stared at his phone. He didn’t have much time to reflect on his conversation with Matt before he heard another familiar voice.

“Keith?”

He turned to see Pidge and her parents standing on the sidewalk looking at him. “H-hey Pidge. Nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Holt.”

“Keith, sweetie is everything alright?” Colleen Holt’s honeyed voice floated over to him.

“Y-yes I’m fine. I just wanted to swing by and say c-congratulations Pidge. I’ll, uh, see you later. I was, um, actually on my way to m-meet Shiro.” He tried to ignore the sting in his eyes and the feel of hot tears slipping down his face. “C-congrats again.” He shoved his motorcycle helmet on and drove off with no intention of going home.

He actually didn’t know where he was going to go; he just knew that he had to get away from the Holts.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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